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Essex puppy dealer found guilty and due to be sentenced alongside other conspirators .

Puppy dealers have pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with the breeding and selling of sick and dying puppies.

Teresa Wade (DoB: 4/5/59) of Ship Lane, Aveley, in Essex, pleaded guilty to one offence of conspiracy to commit fraud at Basildon Crown Court today (Wednesday 5 October) .

Victoria Montgomery (DoB: 5/12/61) of Melford Avenue, Barking, in London, changed her plea to guilty part-way through the four-week trial.

Her daughter, Roxanne Montgomery (DoB: 5/8/83) of Grafton Road, Dagenham, in London, and her partner Tony Hammond (DoB: 21/12/81), of Brunswick Court, Upminster, also in London, had already pleaded guilty to the same offence – of making false representations as to the condition of the puppies being sold, intending to make a gain – in July this year.

The RSPCA launched an investigation into these puppy dealers after receiving dozens of calls from members of the public complaining about buying sick and dying puppies in Essex.

Undercover investigations for the animal welfare charity found that two houses were being used as front addresses’ to sell the dogs from, while they were transported there from a travellers’ site in Aveley.

RSPCA inspector Carroll Lamport, who led the investigation, said: “We received lots of complaints from members of the public who had bought puppies which were really poorly.

“Following some investigations, we found out that this network of puppy breeders and dealers were using front addresses to sell the dogs from, making out that they’d come from loving, family homes.

“The reality was far from that. These dogs were being bred and kept at a travellers’ site in Aveley, until it came time to advertise them online and sell them to unsuspecting members of the public when they were moved to these staged home environments.

“This is a tactic that more and more of these people are using to trick the public and to avoid raising any suspicions, and it’s something we are seeing increasingly in these cases.

“Some of the dogs, which weren’t being bred at the site, were being bought in from elsewhere. Many were too young and some coming from unknown circumstances, including a number believed to be from Welsh puppy farms.”

When the RSPCA and police executed a warrant at the site, officers found 76 dogs and puppies.

All of the dogs – a mix of poodles, cocker spaniels, cavachons, cockerpoos and golden doodles – were seized by police and placed into the RSPCA’s care along with one horse, one bird and five cats. A number of the bitches were pregnant and 27 additional puppies were born in RSPCA care.

Of the 103 dogs in total, four died and courts ordered for all the survivors to be rehomed by the charity ahead of the court case.

Inspector Lamport added: “All of the dogs have been successfully rehomed and are now living in good homes with loving families.

“But many needed intensive care and some have had ongoing problems following issues including parvovirus, campylobacter, and infections in eyes, ears and skin.”

Sentencing will take place on 8 December. A hearing is due to take place on a later date relating to animal welfare offences.

Where once Scotland led the way in banning tail docking for all breeds, yesterday (4th October) the Scottish Government took a huge step back for animal welfare. Dogs Trust is extremely disappointed by the decision to allow an exemption to permit the shortening of the tails of Spaniel and Hunt Point Retrievers. We are strongly opposed to tail docking of puppies’ tails, not least because of the pain it inflicts, but also because it deprives dogs of a vital form of canine expression.

Dogs Trust lobbied heavily for a complete ban to be introduced on tail docking in Scotland in 2007 and was delighted when the country led the way for dog welfare and banned tail docking for all breeds. Whilst we accept that legislation must be reviewed from time to time, we do not believe that the research conducted on behalf of the Scottish Government, which forms the basis of the announcement on tail docking, is sufficiently robust to warrant a review of the existing legislation.

Says Paula Boyden, Dogs Trust Veterinary Director:

“Dogs Trust is deeply concerned about the announcement that the Scottish Government will allow certain breeds of dogs to be docked. Amputating a puppy’s tail is a painful procedure but it is also unnecessary. Research by the Royal Veterinary College suggests that 500 dogs would need to have their tails docked to prevent one tail injury*.

“Tail docking takes place when puppies are just a few days old and so we also question how it can be ensured that only puppies that will go on to be working dogs will have their tails docked.”

In the same announcement from the Scottish Government, it has been unveiled that there will not be an outright ban on electronic training aids, something which Dogs Trust sees as a huge missed opportunity to protect dog welfare. The suggested regulation of electronic training aids, to only allow use by accredited trainers or vets, will be extremely difficult to enforce. With no regulation around dog trainers or behaviourists, anybody can call themselves a ‘behaviourist’ regardless of their qualifications, knowledge, experience and skills. Equally, vets receive varying degrees of behaviour training and may not be suitably qualified in dog behaviour.

Electronic training aids use the principle of being aversive to dogs to inhibit behaviour and so can negatively impact dog welfare. The use of aversive techniques when training dogs can have several negative impacts. They can cause pain and anxiety, resulting in both physiological and behavioural indicators of stress particularly when they cannot be anticipated by the dog.

Dogs Trust only uses reward-based methods to train dogs in its care. Last year alone, we successfully rehomed approximately 1,000 dogs in Scotland without the need to use aversive training techniques.

Paula Boyden continues:

“Dogs Trust has long campaigned for the sale and use of electronic training aids to be banned, and is deeply disappointed by the announcement that they will be regulated rather than banned in Scotland. Wales banned the use of electronic collars in 2010 and we had hoped that Scotland would follow suit.

“Dogs Trust is not alone in its concerns around electronic shock collars. A recent opinion poll of the Scottish public found that 77% of those polled supported a ban of shock collars for dogs. The new legislation does not speak for them, and Dogs Trust strongly believes that it does not speak for the welfare of dogs.”

In an announcement from the Scottish Government which has been positioned to protect animal welfare, Dogs Trust is pondering if this is in fact true. Whilst the positive news surrounding the Scottish Government’s commitment to reviewing animal cruelty penalties under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act is welcomed, this is not enough to compensate for the disappointment felt surrounding the plans for tail docking and electronic training aids. We urge the government to introduce legislation which truly protects the welfare of animals in Scotland.

You see images of how our most familiar dog breeds used to look and it sometimes makes you wonder how and why we allowed them to get in to such a mess. Poorer health, functionality and countless hereditary and genetic illnesses blight the lives of many modern dog breeds.

So a simple question of taste, aesthetically speaking. Which of these types of Pugs do YOU prefer?

A man has been given a 10-year order banning him from keeping animals after leaving his three dogs inside a car on a summer’s day while he spent hours at the gym. They all died.

Jonathan Theobald (DoB: 12/01/51) of Lincoln Road, Peterborough, appeared at the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday (28 September) where he was given an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay a total of £1,900 in fines and costs. He had previously (14 September) pleaded guilty to one offence under the Animal Welfare Act of causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs by confining the animals in an environment which was detrimental to their well-being and led to their death.

He was also disqualified from keeping any animal for 10 years.

Daisy, Mitch and Rascal – three Staffordshire bull terrier-type dogs – died from heat exposure after being left in Theobald’s Volkswagen estate for several hours on 16 June this year. Other gym users spotted the 65-year-old dragging the dogs’ lifeless bodies from the car and contacted police.

RSPCA inspector Justin Stubbs, who investigated, said: “When Mr Theobald returned to his car having spent a number of hours at the gym, he found two of his dogs had already succumbed to the heat. He tried to save the third dog’s life – but it was too late.”

A local vet and police were contacted and found Theobald at his home address with the dogs still inside the car. The RSPCA were then called and launched an investigation.

“Unfortunately, many people seem to be under the impression that it’s okay to leave their dogs in the car for a number of hours while they work out, go shopping or attend an appointment,” inspector Stubbs said. “They believe the dog is better in the car than being left at home.

“This very sad story shows that the reality is that a dog left in a car faces a very probable risk of suffering, or possible death. Even on a mild day, temperatures inside a parked car can soar very quickly.

“Records show that on 16 June, the day in question, it was between 16 and 19C during the hours these dogs were left in the car – certainly not what we’d consider heatwave temperatures in England. But it was enough for the temperature inside the vehicle to climb to a level which killed these poor dogs.

“No matter what the excuse, there is never a good enough reason to leave your dog in a car and risk his life. I sincerely hope people will use this tragic tale as a reminder of the real danger you could be putting your dog in if you leave him in a car on a warm day.”

The RSPCA and 11 other animal welfare charities and organisations each year runs the Dogs Die in Hot Cars campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of leaving pets in vehicles, caravans, conservatories and outbuildings in warm weather. And it doesn’t even need to be that hot before animals are at risk in confined spaces.

So far this year*, the RSPCA’s 24-hour emergency line has received almost 7,000 calls relating to animals left in hot environments – the majority of which are dogs in cars on hot days.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: “This was a tragic, but completely avoidable incident. We remind the public never to leave dogs in cars during hot weather, even for a short period of time or with the window slightly open. The temperature can rise quickly with devastating consequences.”