CONVICTED (2021) | backyard breeder Kieran Luke Routh, born 11 January 1991, of Radnor Street, Bradford BD3 8EA – failed to treat an Akita’s leg sores or maintain her grooming.
Routh, who works as a musician/rapper under the name K13, was banned from owning animals for five years and ordered to pay £1,000 after being convicted of cruelty to an unnamed Akita .
Routh is also a backyard breeder.
He did not treat his Akita’s leg sores or maintain her grooming. He also failed to provide her with a safe living environment or veterinary treatment.
As well as the £1,000 financial penalty, a community order was also made against him.
Routh pleaded not guilty but was found guilty after a trial.
CONVICTED (2021) | Liam Hector Taylor, born 13 May 1989, of 14 Deyhill, Macduff AB44 1PX – used a dog for badger baiting and failed to treat his severe facial wounds.
Liam Taylor failed to get treatment for Brock’s horrific facial wounds suffered after his owner forced him to fight a badger.
Twisted Liam Taylor admitted failing to get proper treatment for the horrific facial wounds suffered by bull lurcher Brock after he forced him to fight badgers.
Taylor bought the dog with the intention of using him for “pig digging”, the term often used for badger baiting, between September 21 and October 8, 2019.
He was caught after graphics showing the dog’s injuries, as well as “trophy photos” of him hunting using the dog, were ordered online and the concerned business owner reported the suspected abuse.
Officers from the Scottish SPCA found the injured dog suffering from missing teeth, an injured face and paw, one nostril part-ripped off and cuts around his muzzle area.
Liam Taylor pictured during a court appearance in October 2021. Photo credit: Kathryn Wylie, Evening Express.
The dog was examined by a specialist vet.
Their expert opinion was that the dog had been used repeatedly for hunting resulting in multiple “very serious and disfiguring injuries”. The injuries seen were thought to be a mixture of injuries sustained from fighting with foxes and a badger.
Fiscal depute Karon Rollo told Banff Sheriff Court that Brock’s injuries were consistent with fighting badgers and foxes and said Taylor had been treating the wounds with just salted water.
“The accused said he had owned the dog for less than one month and they were healing injuries,” she said.
“He said the dog received the injuries whilst fighting in Ireland, where the dog originated from.
“He denied causing the wounds and being present when dogs were used for fighting animals. He had been treating the wounds with salty water.
The vet said Brock’s injuries were consistent with repeated hunting activity.
“Loss of teeth is something which is also typically caused as a result of fighting with badgers. Much of the lower lip area had been ripped off.
“The vet said they would have been very painful and any infection could have caused septicemia. There were also ulcerated wounds and scabbing.”
Further evidence in the form of texts sent to a confiscated phone also incriminated Taylor.
He referenced “pig digging, how he “hoped this dog makes is as a pig digger” and how Brock took “a fair bit of punishment from that pig at the weekend”.
Other messages mentioned the dog being “chewed close to the windpipe” and disclosed details of Taylor arranging to meet the recipient to “send dogs down sets”.
The phone also held photos showing Brock bearing fresh wounds and smeared with blood.
DNA from a knife found in Taylor’s jacket found it had been in contact with roe deer and badger and a skin stapler found in his toolbox held Brock’s DNA.
The dog is currently under the care of the SSPCA which says he is looking “much happier”.
Taylor pleaded guilty to charges of causing unnecessary suffering and failing to get treatment for the animal, and of training or keeping an animal to fight another.
Sentencing: Community Payback Order requiring him to be under supervision for 12 months and to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work. 10-year ownership ban.
Taylor is married to Nicole Innes, a nurse with NHS Grampian. The pair have children.
He is originally from Fraserburgh, Grampian.
His Facebook profile, since removed, shows an obsession with weapons such as slingshots which are used by bloodsports fiends to main and kill animals. He is signed up to numerous bloodsports groups, including one named ‘Bunny Bashers’.
On 1 November 2022 the Daily Record published an article revealing Taylor’s links to other convicted wildlife persecutors Anthony Holloway (who’s also involved in dog fighting) and Rhys Davies.
CONVICTED (2021) | Christopher Michael Matthews, born 19 March 1982, of Newlyn Close, Bransholme, Hull – killed a tiny dog because he was “having a bad day”.
Dog killer Chris Matthews from Hull
Matthews, who has previous convictions for violence, pleaded guilty to causing blunt force trauma to his partner’s Lhasa Apso cross-breed called Sasha, killing her.
He admitted picking up the dog and throwing her at a sofa after flying into a rage when she defecated inside the house.
Philip Brown representing the RSPCA said suspicions about the treatment of Sasha had been raised by the vet which Matthews and his partner, Alison Dewhurst, took the deceased animal.
Matthews with partner Alison Dewhurt, who although not prosecuted was complicit in covering up the truth about Sasha’s death.
The pair claimed that the dog had been alive when they had set off and had suffered an unspecified accident and collapsed in the garden of her property.
Very sadly, Sasha was pronounced dead on arrival at the vets and concerns were raised about the severity of her injuries.
Sasha’s body was seized as evidence pending an investigation and
Matthews was interviewed about her death, initially cooperating with officers but then terminating his involvement when he felt that he was being investigated in relation to her death.
An inspection carried out post-mortem found that Sasha had suffered significant blunt force trauma to the left side of her head and face. There was bruising to the nose and mouth, bloodshot redness in the whites of her eyes and lacerations to the surface of her liver which led to the suspicion that abuse of the animal had taken place over a prolonged period of time.
Mr Brown said that the conclusion of the inspection was that it would not have been possible for the injuries to have been caused in an accident which the owners were not aware of.
Matthews’ lawyer told the court his client had been having a “bad day” and when the animal had repeatedly defecated inside the property after he had already cleaned it he saw red.
Matthews was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment and issued with an indefinite order against looking after any animals. He was also ordered to pay costs and fines totalling £240.
CONVICTED (2021) | animal hoarder Margaret Patricia Fakesch, born 30 March 1961, of 79 Goodrich Close, Hull HU2 0BT – kept 12 cats in squalor in her disheveled home.
The RSPCA responded to multiple calls reporting concerns for the welfare of the animals kept by Margaret Fakesch.
Upon inspection in July 2019, officers found the house littered with so many cat faeces that it was impossible not to walk in it while navigating the cluttered property.
Fakesch denied mistreating the animals but was found guilty at a trial on Monday, November 1, 2021.
Mr Philip Brown, representing the RSPCA, said: “The RSPCA had become aware that Ms Fakesch was keeping a number of cats at her property and responded to call for concern to carry out an inspection.
“Officers arrived at the property on July 21, 2019, and noticed a strong smell of ammonia on entry, there was a considerable amount of clutter in the property and it was estimated that there were 12 animals in her care.
“In areas the floor was covered in urine and there were so many piles of faeces that it was difficult to walk through the property without stepping in it.
“The extent of the faeces was such that there were piles on the arms of the sofa in the living room. Ms Fakesch agreed that the conditions were not suitable but was unable to suggest why this was.
“She was issued with a notice to improve the conditions for the animals pending a further inspection and to seek veterinary care for two of the animals.”
The court heard that Fakesch did not trust vets, telling officers that she suspected them of harming her animals and signalling in a stabbing motion towards her stomach.
Two cats had been identified as a particular concern at the property with weeping eyes that the officers deemed to need immediate care.
The RSPCA received a further call of concern regarding the cats in Fakesch’s care when she took an animal named Beautiful to be seen at a vet but would not take the professional advice given.
She would later ignore more professional advice when one of her animals was involved in an accident on the roads and was found to have a heart murmur, refusing to administer medication to the animal as she did not know what it was for.
Mr Brown said: “Ms Fakesch did not trust the professional advice given by veterinary practitioners and preferred instead to administer homeopathic remedies.
“These included the belief that she could heal her animals by placing her hands on them.
“When officers returned to the property it was found in much the same state as before save some small corridors made in the clutter to make it easier to get around.
“A pile of used litter trays were found in stagnant water in the bathroom and a number of soiled adult nappies were littered around the house.
“Ms Fakesch told officers that she wanted the home to smell as bad as it could to deter anyone that might break in to try and burgle her.”
Fakesch represented herself at court and struggled to follow instructions not to interrupt proceedings by shouting down the RSPCA representative and the clerk.
Despite already having been found guilty at a one-day trial on September 9, 2021, she continued to protest her innocence claiming some of the more sickly animals were not her own but a family member’s.
Sentencing: ordered to pay costs of £262. Banned indefinitely from owning animals but can appeal after five years.
