CONVICTED (2014) | Tracy Michelle Davis, born 03/06/1974, formerly of Beeston in Leeds, but as at April 2020 of Melcombe Walk, Bradford BD4 9HE, and son Andrew Ward, born 07/05/1995 most recently of Hartland Road, Bradford BD4 0DZ – for the severe neglect of a dog found wandering the streets covered in scabs and sores.
Andrew Ward and his mother, Tracy Davis, are banned from keeping dogs until 2029
Travellers Tracy Davis and Andrew Ward pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering by failing to seek appropriate veterinary care for their dog’s chronic skin condition, and failing to seek and address the causes of her poor bodily condition.
Neglected Saluki Lady was found wandering the streets in an atrocious condition. She went on to make a full recovery, however, and was rehomed
The Saluki-type dog, called Lady, was emaciated and almost completely bald due to a skin condition when she was found by a member of the public in September 2013.
Mr Andrew Davidson, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said: “It is no exaggeration to say she was close to death.”
RSPCA chief inspector Heidi Jenner said: “[Lady] weighed just 11kg when she should have weighed between 20kg and 30kg.
“Her skin was crusty and cracking and covered in sores.
“I hope the sentence will help ensure other animals do not suffer in their care in future.”
Lady made a full recovery and was rehomed
Sentencing: Davis – 12-month community order, £250 costs. Ward – 12-month community order, 120 hours of unpaid work, £250 costs. Both were banned from keeping dogs for 15 years (expires April 2029).
CONVICTED (2014) | Jennifer Jayne Plater, born 14 October 1974, and Michael Edward Knight, born 26 March 1973, both of Rutland Road, Tyldesley, Manchester M29 8EY – starved a young Weimaraner dog until she became a “walking skeleton”.
Lola became a walking skeleton in the care of Wigan couple Jennifer Plater and Michael Knight. Happily she was nursed back to health in the RSPCA’s care and rehomed.
Lola, a female Weimaraner-type dog, was rescued by the RSPCA from the home of Jennifer Plater and partner Michael Knight.
The cruel couple bought the young dog from a stranger on the street but then starved her to emaciation.
A court heard she weighed just 14.5kg against an average weight for a dog of her type of around 30kg.
The vet report stated that she had suffered for around six weeks.
Plater and Knight were convicted in their absence of causing unnecessary suffering to Lola and failing to meet her needs by failing to provide a suitable diet and fresh water.
RSPCA inspector Vicki McDonald said: “Lola was so emaciated you could see every bone in her body.
“Anyone could see that she was extremely underweight, in fact we were alerted to her plight after a shocked member of the public saw Mr Knight out with her, though he does deny this. She was like a walking skeleton.”
The RSPCA attended the couple’s home in December 2013 and Lola was seized by police.
The court heard that when presented with food she ‘ate ravenously’.
Lola was signed over to the RSPCA and is now happy and healthy and in a new loving home.
Inspector McDonald added: “All owners are responsible for meeting the needs of their pets – the most basic of which is the provision of an adequate diet. This couple failed this dog terribly, she was literally starving to death.
“They bought Lola for £100 from a stranger they met in the street. A free vet check around the same time showed she was a normal, healthy weight, so the weight loss happened in their care. People should always think long and hard about taking on a dog.”
Sentencing | 26-week curfew order; Plater was ordered to pay £200 in costs and Knight £300.. Banned from keeping any animal as a pet for 10 years (expires April 2024).
CONVICTED (2014) | Lee Morris, born 9 May 1979, of Clunbury Road Wellington, Telford TF1 3PA – kept a starving, emaciated dog in a garden shed.
Morris, then of Viewlands Drive in Trench, admitted unnecessary suffering in relation to an unnamed Staffy whom he’d owned for around 12 years.
Vets said the dog had likely been suffering for about four weeks without adequate food before she was signed over to the RSPCA.
Roger Price, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA , said officers visited Morris’s home after receiving calls of concern.
Mr Price said Morris was co-operative with officers, and admitted the animal was thin.
Mr Price, said: “The inspector was taken to the garden shed where the dog was.
“The dog was described as skeletal, its ribs could be seen and its eyes were sunken. The dog also appeared unsteady on its legs.”
Morris told the inspector he had been intending to take the pet to the vet that evening to have her put down.
Morris signed the dog over to the RSPCA.
The dog weighed 7.45 kilos, when an ideal weight for the type of dog was 12.5 kilos and scored one in a body condition scale where one is emaciated and nine is obese.
Tests showed there was no illness that would cause the dog to refuse food and she ate “keenly” when fed.
Mr Price said: “It was the vet’s opinion that the dog was in extremely poor body condition. It was clearly able to eat and very keen to eat. The period of suffering would likely have been four weeks.”
The dog has since been taken on by a new family, who first fostered her, and has since got to 90 per cent of her ideal weight.
Probation officer Phil Kaleta said: “Mr Morris said he takes full responsibility , he knows it’s not right.
“At the time he had split up with his wife. He is quite a normal, hard working gentleman who has found himself in a bad patch through his divorce. He doesn’t seek to excuse himself.”
Sentencing | suspended prison sentence; 230 hours of unpaid work; ordered to pay a total of £1,800. Lifetime ban.
CONVICTED (2014) | riding school owner Tina Hodge, born December 1966, of 11 Cullimore View, Ruspidge, Cinderford GL14 3HP – failed to meet the welfare needs of two horses.
Tina Hodge with Peter Andre. Forest Trekking featured in a 2013 documentary on the singer’s life.
Hodge, owner of Forest Trekking based at Court Farm, Coleford Road, Bream, Lydney GL15 64S, was ordered to pay more than £1,400 in fines and costs after being found guilty of horse cruelty. She was not banned from owning animals.
She was charged with failing to ensure a dark bay horse named Star received veterinary care for an injury and not providing hoof care for a piebald pony called Lucky. Magistrates found her guilty and fined her £220 and ordered her to pay £1,200 in costs.
Star had an untreated rug sore.
The RSPCA was called in March 2013 and inspector Pippa Hodge found Star with an untreated rug sore.
Three months later, in June 2013, Lucky was found at Forest Trekking with feet curled up into “Aladdin’s slippers”. He had not been exercised and had apparently been in his stable for seven months.
Lucky had not received treatment for badly overgrown hooves – which were described as looking like ’Aladdin’s slippers’. He was reported as having been confined to a stable for seven months, and had not been exercised.
Hodge had previously been advised on caring for horses from the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare.
RSPCA inspector Suzi Smith, who investigated Lucky’s case, said: “I am pleased that this case has now been resolved.
“The defendant said that Lucky was difficult to catch and that’s why his hooves were in such an awful state, but we managed to catch and load him onto transport, as well as trim his hooves, quite easily.
“There can be no excuse for someone who keeps horses not to provide them with the most basic care to meet their needs and that includes ensuring they receive veterinary care and farriery when they need it.
“If they can’t cope with this they need to seek help.”
World Horse Welfare field officer Phil Jones said: “This case is sadly typical of the types of cases we deal with.
“We regularly see owners who have more horses than they can cope with meaning that the animals do not get the level of care and attention they need and the situation can escalate into a welfare problem.
“World Horse Welfare would always advise that if horse owners are feeling overwhelmed or need help coping they should get in touch early, ask for help and try to follow the guidance given to ensure that the best option is taken for horse welfare.”
Both Lucky and Star were rehomed following their recovery.
Hodge’s re-application to offer horses for riding at Court Farm was overshadowed by a public campaign against the council granting her a licence – a campaign that began soon after her conviction in April 2014, and which included internet petitions gathering signatories, and a handbill which was distributed around the Forest.
The handbill read: “Horse neglect. Tina Hodge still continues running Forest Trekking from Court Farm, Bream – after conviction (she is) still in ownership of 35 badly kept horses. Stop this suffering. Support our campaign.”
The re-application was for a total of eight, named, horses. The Licensing Committee reported that they had received five emails and two letters asking that Hodge’s licence not be renewed, and one letter in support of the application.
Animal rights campaigners in the area were quick to applaud the decision, with one group, ’Forest of Dean Animal Rights’ releasing the following statement:
“We applaud the decision of the Forest of Dean District Council to deny convicted animal abuser Tina Hodge a licence to run her trekking business.
“Her continued trading was another stain on the Forest of Dean, that she will be no longer allowed to trade is a step in the right direction.”
Update November 2021
Sadly it would appear that the decision not to grant Tina Hodge a Riding Establishment Licence was later reversed and Forest Trekking continues to trade in 2021. There are allegations that Hodge continues to show scant regard for the welfare of the horses in her care with reports of animals being up to their knees and mud and a yearling being found dead. There has also been criticism of the local authority with suggestions that they are turning a blind eye to Hodge’s alleged cruelty.
Update May 2022
Tina Hodge was ordered to pay almost £4,000 in court costs after admitting she endangered the health of nine horses by failing to unwrap their hay bales properly, putting them at risk of swallowing plastic.
Hodge pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court on May 11, 2022, to failing to take steps to ensure that the needs of the horses on land opposite Court Farm, Coleford rd, Bream, were met on 5th March 2021
As well as being ordered to pay prosecution costs of £3,900 and a victim services surcharge of £22, Hodge was also given a three-year conditional discharge.
The charge which she admitted was brought under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and stated that she “did fail properly to remove all plastic wrapping and netting from the hay bales deposited as food requiring the horses to rip the plastic wrapping netting in order to eat, causing a health risk to the horses by ingesting small amounts of plastic.”
Hodge denied two further similar animal welfare charges which were dismissed after the prosecution offered no evidence
One of those charges was that she failed to muck out the stables “causing four horses to stand in excessive faecal waste of approximately two feet in height and failed to provide the horses with access to fresh water.”
The other alleged that the needs of three horses were not met “in that the horses were standing in an excessive amount of faeces and wet straw that had not been mucked out for some time, with wet bedding due to large holes in the roof and no visible access to drinking water.”
Hodge had denied all three charges against her but admitted one of them on the scheduled day of trial and the others were then not proceeded with.
The magistrates said her credit for pleading guilty was reduced because of the lateness of plea.
CONVICTED (2014) | Shivaun Dorothea Best, aka Shivaun Turner, born 17/08/1979, of Greystone Park, Limavady BT49 0EG – for starving springer spaniel to death
Dog killer Shivaun Best, who also goes by the name Shivaun Turner
An animal welfare officer called to Best’s property in December 2012 to investigate a complaint about a dead dog at the premises. The complainant stated that the pet had been left out in the cold without food or water.
On arrival the officer discovered a dead springer spaniel in a kennel to the rear of the property.
Officers noted that a blue bin had been tipped over and its contents were lying around the yard. Inside the kennel, bottles and cardboard were lying beside the dead animal.
The dog was found with his spine and ribs protruding through his skin. A post mortem was subsequently carried out on the animal, revealing that he had died from starvation.
A prosecuting solicitor revealed that aluminium foil had been found in the dog’s stomach which indicated that he had been eating the contents of the blue bin.
The court heard that the dog, who had been dead for more than five days when animal welfare officers discovered him, weighed just 6kg; a healthy dog would weigh between 20 and 25kg.
Best alleged that the dog belonged to her daughter and stated that she had no responsibility toward him.
During sentencing, District Judge Liam McNally described the case as ‘absolutely appalling’.
After viewing images of the dead animal, he said it was clear that he had been starved to death.
“You must have been aware of the suffering that dog was undergoing,” he said to Best.
“If you had pleaded not guilty I would have sent you to prison for two months.
“This is as bad a case as I have come across.”
Judge McNally said he believed he could ‘protect any future animals’ by banning Best from keeping or being in charge of any animal for a period of ten years.
Sentence: four months’ imprisonment suspended for three years. Banned from keeping any animal for 10 years(expires April 2024) .
CONVICTED (2014) | serial animal killer Brandon Robb (aka Brandon Lee), born c. 1997 of Paterson Cottages, Leslie, Glenrothes KY7 3DZ – used his pet dog to hunt and kill a rare deer
Police mugshot of serial animal killer and possible child abuser Brandon Robb
Robb killed the exceptionally rare piebald deer while awaiting sentence for stealing 30 ducks from Meikle Balquhomrie Farm, Leslie, with friend Benjamin ‘Benny’ Murray.
The deer have a distinctive brown and white coat and are thought to make up less than 1% of the white-tailed deer population.
In court, it was revealed Sheriff Max Hendry had received a social work report that stated Robb was “effectively living a feral existence”.
He had plastered his own Facebook page with photos of him posing next to illegally slain animals, including the stolen ducks and the dead deer.
Rare piebald deer mercilessly slaughtered by Brandon Robb
Robb and accomplice Murray admitted stealing 30 ducks from between July 29 and August 1, 2013.
Robb was found out after being caught on film when gamekeeper Mark Robson planted an infrared camera to catch the thieves.
Depute fiscal Lauri Mitchell said: “The birds were checked daily and on July 29 there were approximately 30 injured or missing.
“Witness Robson, who owns the farm, checked Brandon Robb’s Facebook page and saw a number of images of dead ducks and contacted the police.
“The Facebook messages indicated the accused Murray had also been present at the time.”
Robb also pleaded guilty to using a lurcher-type dog to hunt and kill a piebald deer at Ballingall Farm, Leslie, when he did not have the legal right to take or kill deer, on March 16 and 17, 2014.
He also admitted that between January 1 and March 17, 2014, at the same farm, he hunted deer with dogs, as well as assaulting a man on February 19, 2014, and four bail breaches.
Hours before one court appearance Robb ranted on Facebook about “grasses” and vowed to continue killing, writing: “Born a hunter, I’ll die a hunter. F*** THE BAN.”
Robb also admitted shouting racist abuse and hitting a man with a golf club.
Robb was given eight months’ detention in the care of the local authority, while accomplice Benjamin Murray was sentenced to 13 months in prison.
Accomplice Benny Murray, who went on to be jailed for four years in 2016 after being convicted of further animal cruelty as well as serial domestic violence towards different partners
He told Murray: “Your behaviour was, in short, atrocious. Your behaviour in the duck case was barbaric.”
Turning to Robb he said: “Although you are only 17 you cannot expect to continue to break the law and avoid the consequences of that.”
Robb was back in court in May 2014 after threatening to beat up a 14-year-old boy. This was a breach of his bail conditions which banned him from having any contact with children.
Update July 2014
Robb returned to court yet again in July 2014 to face charges relating to the carrying out of sexual offences in the presence of two children.
It was alleged that on July 5, 2013, at an address in Fife, Robb repeatedly uttered remarks of a sexual nature to a girl who had not reached the age of 13.
He was also charged with exposing his genitals in a sexual manner to the same girl by lowering his trousers and exposing himself in her presence.
Furthermore, he intentionally engaged in a sexual activity in the presence of the girl by repeatedly simulating a sex act.
Robb faced a further charge that, on August 7 2013 at an address in Fife, he intentionally engaged in sexual activity in the presence of a boy who was under 13, by exposing himself and performing a sex act.
Robb was granted bail and due to return to court for trial in October 2014; however, the outcome was not reported.
In August 2020 Fife Police issued an appeal for information as they launched a hunt for “urban hunter” Brandon Robb, and warned the public not to approach him.
It was reported that Robb is known to frequent parks, wooded areas and farmland in the area, and has connections in Glenrothes.
In response to the appeal, Brandon Robb posted on Facebook that he was “not missing” but had gone fishing and was in Bishop Auckland, County Durham
He was soon apprehended and summoned back to court in September 2020 in relation to four breaches of a sexual offences prevention order imposed on him in March 2016. He admitted those offences when he appeared via video link at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
Under the terms of the order, Robb, of Paterson Park Cottages, was forbidden from contacting any child under the age of 16 but the court heard he had ignored that by having contact with two 14-year-olds and two 15-year-olds on various occasions in the Leslie area between March 1 and 3 last year and between June 1 and July 31 this year.
Fiscal Ronnie Hay explained Robb had regularly met up with people – some of whom were under the age of 16 – in the grounds of Leslie House, local parks and woodland and at a nearby reservoir.
Mr Hay also revealed how he had been messaging a girl under the age of 16 on social media channel Snapchat, in particular sending pictures of his stomach muscles.
Defence solicitor David Cranston explained as Leslie was a small community, it was common for children of different age groups to grow up together, with large groups of around 20 people tending to congregate in certain areas.
He said: “The context is that everybody is quite well known to each other in Leslie, but he recognises that he shouldn’t have been as friendly with the under 16s.”
Mr Cranston went on to say Robb was aware the police were looking for him and arranged to hand himself in on August 11.
However, Sheriff James Williamson was not impressed by the manner in which Robb had breached the order imposed by the court.
He said: “The phrase has been used that you came into contact with children.
“That would give an indication of innocent contact but it’s clear that you went out of your way to make contact with young people quite contrary to the sexual offences prevention order.”
Sheriff Williamson sentenced Robb to 28 months in prison, backdated to August 3, 2020.
Robb previously gained notoriety when he posted pictures of himself and his dog hunting, and was jailed in 2014 after using his pet dog to hunt and kill a rare piebald deer.
Making reference to that, Mr Cranston told the court his client had “quite severe” ADHD but loved hunting and enjoyed “ridding the local golf course of pests”.
CONVICTED (2014) | Walter Roger Doe, born c. 1989, of Batts Bridge Caravan Park, Batts Bridge Road, Maresfield, Uckfield TN22 2HN – illegally docked the tail of a Jack Russell puppy.
Doe, a traveller, left the tiny pup in ‘excruciating pain’ after using a sharp tool to remove his tail two inches from its base.
The RSPCA removed the black and white puppy, named Jack, from Doe’s care in July 2013 following a report of concern for the animal’s welfare.
They found Jack with a bandage around his tail and in obvious pain.
The puppy was taken to a vet who removed the bandage and found a very raw wound, about two inches from the tail base, with the rest of the tail removed.
Career criminal Doe, whose convictions included theft and domestic violence, was sent to jail for 12 weeks for causing unnecessary suffering to the puppy and failing to seek veterinary treatment for his open wound.
Speaking after the sentencing, RSPCA Inspector Andrew Kirby said: ‘The prison sentence reflects how seriously the court took the suffering caused to the puppy.
He added: “The vet said it was a very clean-cut wound and must have been made with a sharp tool.”
‘We have no proof about what was used to dock Jack’s tail but, whether it was a knife or a pair of scissors, he would have been in agony.
‘Cutting through the bone of the tail must have been excruciatingly painful and no attempt at all was made to relieve this pain.
‘Tail docking is such a brutal way to treat a young animal in any case.’
Sentencing | 12 weeks’ imprisonment. Banned from keeping animals for 10 years (expires April 2024).
#MostEvil | former trainee solicitor Katy Elizabeth Gammon, born 15/08/1986, currently (September 2019) of Orlebar Gardens, Bristol BS11 0SQ – left a boxer dog to starve to death in an abandoned property.
Former trainee solicitor Katy Gammon from Lawrence Weston, Bristol, and Roxy, the boxer dog she left to starve to death.
In April 2014 Gammon admitted deliberately locking a 5-year-old boxer dog named Roxy in the kitchen of her former home to die.
Gammon, who had moved in with her mother at the time, continued going to work while her pet slowly starved to death.
Asked in court if she had deliberately locked the dog in the kitchen and left her to die, Gammon replied: ‘Yes, basically.’
Roxy’s body lay undiscovered for another eight weeks, by which time it was so decomposed an RSPCA inspector had to use a snow shovel to pick it up.
Bristol Magistrates’ Court had previously heard that Gammon had confined the dog by tying a rope to the kitchen door handle and fixing it to a hook in the hall.
Roxy had frantically clawed at the door, leaving fragments on the floor, as she tried to escape before her death, which would have taken around six days.
Gammon lost her position at law firm Lyons Davidson.
Sentence: 18 weeks in prison; banned from owning animals for life
CONVICTED (2014) | Derek Monkton, born c. 1954 (since deceased*), of Broad Street, Bromsgrove B61 8LL – ignored a lifetime ban on keeping animals and allowed his pet greyhound’s teeth to rot
But during a two-day trial at Redditch Magistrates Court he was found guilty of breaching the ban by keeping five rabbits and two greyhounds at his home.
Monkton was also found guilty of failing to explore and address the causes of his greyhound’s dental disease.
The court heard how the animals were discovered after they were rescued by firefighters tackling a house fire at the Sidemoor property in February 2013.
After the rescue the animals were taken to a nearby vets.
The grey and white greyhound, named Gypsy, was examined by the vet who discovered the tartar build up on her teeth was so bad it was 5mm thick in some places.
Serial animal abuser: in 2005 Monkton was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to three Welsh Section A colts, one of which had to be euthanised on humane grounds.
As well as the custodial sentence, which was suspended for two years, Monkton was also ordered to pay costs of £2,000 and was again disqualified from keeping animals under the Animal Welfare Act of 2006.
Speaking after the case RSPCA inspector Adrian Langley said: ”He failed to get treatment for Gypsy’s teeth and it caused her pain and suffering.
“Sadly all of Gypsy’s teeth had deteriorated so badly due to the thick build-up of tartar they were not salvageable and had to be removed by the vet.
“Thankfully Gypsy has now been rehomed and is thriving with her new family.
“We are pleased with the result at court especially as this man was a repeat offender.
“People who receive a lifetime ban and ignore it do so at their peril.
Sentencing: 12 weeks in jail, suspended for two years. Costs of £2,000. A further lifetime ban on keeping animals.
CONVICTED (2014) | Reece Owen Gibbens, born 05/02/1993, of Pinfold Gate, Loughborough LE11 1BE – left his dog to starve to death while he was in custody
Reece Gibbens was sent to Glen Parva’s youth detention centre in April 2013, pending a trial.
When he was released six weeks later, on May 1, he did not return to his flat in Victoria Street, Leicester, moving instead to Loughborough.
The emaciated body of Gibbens’ pet dog was found in his Leicester flat on May 31 by a council worker sent to clean up the property for another tenant.
Kevin McCole, for the RSPCA, told the court: “The flat was in a total mess with faeces all over the floor and rotting food strewn everywhere.
“The remains of the dog were found lying on a pile of rubbish in the kitchen.”
Gibbens pleaded guilty to cruelty towards the adult male Staffordshire bull terrier by failing to feed him, leading to his death, and failing to monitor the dog while he was absent.
Mr McCole said Gibbens claimed he had notified staff at Glen Parva Young Offender Institute that he had a dog. However, nobody at the detention centre could recall Gibbens telling them about the dog.
Mr McCole said: “He did not make any inquiries about the whereabouts or the health of the dog, or return to the flat when he was released.
“This is a very serious case of abandonment leading to the death of a dog when it could have easily been avoided.”
A pathology report indicated the animal had been dead for five to seven days before May 31, and had suffered for days, if not weeks.
“The dog was left abandoned with no water supply. It is believed it had to take water from the toilet bowl,” said Mr McCole.
Sentence: a, total of 26 weeks in prison for animal cruelty plus theft and threatening behaviour and possession of a knife. Banned from keeping any animals for 10 years (expires April 2024).
