Monthly Archives: November 2022

Dogs, hare coursing, hunting with dogs, Organised Animal Crime, Traveller Animal Crimes, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Pontefract / Barnsley, Yorkshire: Kian Harratt, Codie Smith, Billy Haigh

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CONVICTED (2022) | Kian Shay Harratt, born 21 June 2002, of Craven Road, Hemsworth in Pontefract WF9 4SB, Codie Colin Smith, born 16 December 2003, of Frickley Bridge Lane, Brierley, Barnsley S72 9LQ, and Billy Haigh, born 17 February 2002, of Musgrave Farm, Main Street, South Hiendley, Barnsley S72 9BG – sentenced to fines for hare coursing.

L-R Codie Smith, Kian Harratt, Billy Haigh

Officers from Humberside Police stopped a vehicle following reports of hare coursing on farmland near the village of Wressle in East Riding of Yorkshire on 3 April 2022. Kian Harratt, Codie Smith and Billy Haigh were arrested and subsequently charged with Game Act offences.

Codie Smith
Kian Harratt
Billy Haigh

They were all convicted at Beverley Magistrates Court on Tuesday 1 November 2022.

Smith and Harratt

Harratt, a professional footballer currently on loan to Bradford City FC, was fined £830 and ordered to pay £150 in costs and a victim surcharge of £83

Billy Haigh

Haigh was fined £519 and ordered to pay £150 in costs and a victim surcharge of £52

Smith with his beautician girlfriend Evie Rose Folletti

Aspiring boxer Codie Smith was fined £173 and ordered to pay £150 in costs and a victim surcharge of £34.

Wakefield Express
Hull Daily Mail

Update 16 November 2022

It was reported that Kian Harratt had accepted disciplinary action by Huddersfield Town FC following his conviction for poaching offences.

Harratt’s loan with Bradford City was terminated in light of the news, with Bantams manager Mark Hughes and Town head coach Mark Fotheringham both indicating that the matter would be investigated by Huddersfield Town.

The club released the following statement::

“Huddersfield Town can confirm that B Team striker Kian Harratt has been subject to the club’s disciplinary procedures following his recent court appearance and our subsequent internal investigation. Kian, who was found guilty of poaching by Beverley Magistrates Court in October 2022, has been issued with a significant fine by the Club, and will also take part in extensive educational and community work in due course.

“He has also shown genuine remorse for what he has done, and for bringing the Club’s name into disrepute. However, that in no way excuses him. Huddersfield Town has dealt with this matter with the utmost seriousness and cannot condone his actions. We are extremely disappointed to have one of our players conducting themselves in this manner away from the Club, as it sits in complete opposition with our morals.

“In our extensive discussions with him, it has been made abundantly clear to Kian that he must now seize the opportunity to rebuild his reputation and to make amends for this unacceptable situation. Kian has now returned to the Club from his loan at Bradford City and will train and play with the B Team group.”

Additional Information

At date of conviction Kian Harratt was a striker with Bradford City FC. He had played for the League Two club since June 2022, on loan from Huddersfield. Before that, he played for Harrogate Town and Guiseley on loan.

Alternative Facebook profile for Harratt here.

The trio are best buddies with violent criminal and fellow hare courser Dane Antony Enright and his partner, children’s nursery worker Emma Louise Wellings, who also enjoys persecuting wildlife.,

Codie Colin Smith is an amateur boxer. He showcases his boxing matches on Facebook and Instagram. Smith tells us that he and the others were only prosecuted for trespassing but there is little doubt that all three men participate in hare coursing. They are all active members of a twisted Facebook group named East Midlands Hare Coursing and regularly post videos and images of their latest kills.

Smith is sponsored by the following businesses/organisations:

Dogs, ear cropping and tail docking, Pet Profiteering, puppy farmers / traffickers, kennels, backyard breeders

Clacton-on-Sea, Essex: Rory Canny and Sophie Snell

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CONVICTED (2022) | backyard breeders Rory Canny, born May 1992, and Sophie Louise Snell, born 27 November 1991, both of St Osyth Road East, Little Clacton, Clacton-on-Sea CO16 9NZ – illegally cropped dogs’ ears.

Canny and Snell, who trade under the name Bully Lair UK, were convicted of one offence each under the Animal Welfare Act relating to the cropping.

Logo for the pair’s dodgy breeding business.

RSPCA officers started an investigation after reports of dogs having cropped ears.

A warrant was executed at a property in Clacton where several dogs were found, including a number that had been cropped.

The vile pair lied that this dog, known as Bjorn, had been imported from Bulgaria, when they had bred him themselves.
The pair denied all knowledge of ownership in relation to Nylah.

Officers also carried out online research into Bullylair UK kennels and found a number of images on social media showing puppies who were being bred and having their ears cropped.

In her witness statement, RSPCA inspector Caroline Richardson – who compiled a research report based on the kennel’s Instagram images – said: “An image posted on May 9, 2020 on the BullylairUK Instagram page shows an entire litter of puppies with whole ears, stating they are four weeks old.

“Bjorn (pictured above) is then posted in December 2020 with cropped ears. Canny and Snell… both confirmed in interview this is the same dog and that they bred the dog.”

The couple claimed they adopted Bjorn when he was four months old, only to change their story and admit to breeding him, but saying they sold him to a friend overseas and he only returned when the ‘friend’ arranged the cropping.

However, online evidence – including photos posted online during the time period he was allegedly overseas – suggests the dog was with them, and there are no travel documents to support their claims.

A second dog, Tiger Lily, is pictured on the same Instagram account with whole ears. She has similar markings to a dog seen on the day of the visit (WR/6) – a “distinctive fork shape” white chest marking – with cropped ears.

When interviewed, the pair denied breeding her – saying she came from another kennels.

A third dog, Nylah, is seen pictured in May 2020 as a four-week puppy with whole ears. Another photo in March 2021 showed her with cropped ears and it was claimed she was co-owned with another kennels. In interview, Snell said she didn’t know who owned Nylah and Canny denied being her co-owner.

A fourth dog – Saber Tooth – is seen in an image posted on Instagram on 1 January 2021 with uncropped ears. In March 2021, a video is posted showing Canny holding a puppy with very similar markings with his ears now cropped.

Canny said, in interview, that the puppy with cropped ears was a different dog and is from another kennels. He said that Saber Tooth was from Bulgaria.

inspector Richardson said: “Ear cropping is an horrific practice which has absolutely no benefits for the dogs and can cause them lifelong health, behavioural and social problems.

“This is done purely for cosmetic purposes and sadly can lead to puppies being sold for much more money – but we’d urge the public and anyone looking to buy a puppy to remember that this is an illegal procedure which has hugely negative impacts for the dogs themselves.”

Sentencing |
Canny: 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Snell: six-month curfew.
£600 each in legal costs.
Five-year ban on keeping dogs (expires November 2027).

Essex Live