A catalogue of neglect
The neglected animals included: 83 dogs;
eight cats; three horses; two bovines; a deer;
chickens; a duck; a pigeon and a crow. Many of
them were in extremely poor health; living in
tiny, cramped cages with no bedding or clean
water. Two puppies had 90 percent of their fur
missing and one dog was found confined in a
wooden laundry basket that was too small to
allow him to turn around.
the wet shed floor, no water for the dog to
drink, no bedding available and nowhere dry
for him to stand or lie down.
Dogs were kept in poorly-made runs tied
together with baler twine or in cages, many of
which were far too small. The enclosures were
contaminated with faeces and had clearly not
been cleaned out regularly. The dogs did not
have access to water; when this was pointed
out the man took a watering can and poured
were too small to house a dog for any length
of time. The types of cages varied: there
were small dog crates containing more than
one dog, a cage usually sold to keep guinea
pigs indoors, a parrot cage and even a small
laundry basket with a wire mesh top held in
place with a brick. Loose in the Portakabin
was an underweight Rottweiler dog with a
large tumour on her neck. This was infected
and appeared to have ruptured, as pus was
oozing over the surrounding fur. She was
withdrawn and made no effort to get up
when strangers entered.
There was also a St Bernard-type dog inside
that was very matted and dirty, with fur loss
and scabs along her spine, and a pregnant Jack
Russell terrier. A grey feral pigeon was found in
a small cat carrier.
Squalor and hazards
Elsewhere on the defendant's land a bull and
a heifer were found with coats matted with
faeces. It was clear from the amount of dirty
bedding that had built up that it had been
some time since the gates had been opened
and the animals let out. A plastic bucket in
He appeared to believe that he was "rescuing" the
animals and "saving them from being put to sleep".
This underweight Rottweiler had a large infected
tumour on her neck which had ruptured.
water through the bars of one of the runs.
The dogs inside drank it all immediately.
Portakabin misery
As Inspector Pawlowski opened a Portakabin
door she was greeted by a strong smell of
ammonia and faeces. Inside there were small
cages containing mainly Jack Russell-type
dogs. They had no comfortable resting area,
water or food and there was dirty newspaper
in the bottom of some of the cages, which
A deer with a missing foot was found standing
at the back of a very dark shed with no
water, food or bedding. The man claimed
he had had the deer since it was a fawn, and
that a vet had amputated its foot. Later,
however, he admitted he had amputated the
deer's foot himself, saying it was black and
"hanging", so he cut it off.
A black Labrador-cross-type dog was found
cowering towards the back of another shed.
There were piles of mould-covered faeces on
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