CONVICTED (2016) | former vet Gary James Cassius Samuel, born 09/06/1966, of Weston Road, Enfield EN2 0QD and vets’ assistant Rochelle McEwan, born 18/03/1987 of Stonecliffe Close, Leeds LS12 5BJ – trapped 22 huskies and eight cats in a squalid cellar.
Vet Gary James Cassius Samuel, who practised for 16 years and had 10,000 customers, and assistant/partner Rochelle McEwan were convicted of animal cruelty after officers discovered 22 dogs and eight cats in the back room, living quarters and basement of Armley Vets, on Town Street, in Armley, Leeds.
Cruel Samuel, a father, and McEwan let the helpless animals starve in dirty cages in a secret basement underneath his practice which has hidden by a trap door.
Of the 24 dogs kept in the Leeds practice where Samuel also lived, 22 were huskies and six were puppies. One puppy found in a cage had to be put down, as did one of the eight cats found.
In February 2015 police were called to the property after a 999 call reported that Samuel was threatening McEwan with a hammer.
When they arrived they found husky type dogs living in dirty, overcrowded cages, which were kept below a trap door that was covered by a carpet and a table.
The animals also had very little water and police officers who searched the building said there was a strong smell of urine and faeces.
Officers also found three cats in the back room. They were described as ‘skin and bone’ and one of them had to be euthanised.
The police called the RSPCA and some animals were removed from the house that night.
Three further dogs had to be put down on veterinary advice.
Samuel claimed that McEwan collected the dogs and he wasn’t happy about them being kept in the cellar, but they weren’t his responsibility. This wasn’t accepted by the court, however, and he was convicted of all charges.
RSPCA inspector Nikki Cheetham said: “I’ve seen a lot of shocking things working for the RSPCA but I would certainly never have expected to deal with something like this.
“People who work in the veterinary profession are the first port of call if an animal needs help. It is unthinkable to consider what was going on in this surgery as clients were coming and going, paying their vet fees.
“Dogs and cats were in a back room, the vet’s living quarters and a basement, accessed by a trapdoor in the floor that had been hidden by a piece of carpet – that’s where most of the dogs were found. They were in cages covered in faeces, with no access to food or water, in the pitch black. It was like a dungeon.”
Ms Cheetham said most of the dogs were Husky-types, with the exception of two Chinese crested dogs. Adult dogs were in the basement while puppies were found shut in one of the rooms, with most of the cats in another.
She said 21 animals – 15 dogs and six cats – have already been re-homed from RSPCA centres and branches in County Durham, York, Liverpool, Chester, Leeds and Harrogate.
In July 2018 Samuel was struck off after the disciplinary committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) ruled that he was unfit to practise as a veterinary surgeon.
A tribunal report revealed details of the raid on Samuel’s Armley veterinary practice in Leeds in February 2015.
It said: “Police entered the premises and described an immediate and strong smell of stale urine mixed with a strong smell of faeces.
“Having entered through the rear of the premises, they found themselves in an examination room, where there appeared to be a dirty towel with instruments on a table.
“As they moved onwards, they found cages, two of them occupied by husky-type puppies. They did not appear to have any water or bedding.
“An officer opened a chest freezer and discovered meat that appeared to be off.
“Dr Samuel was found in the main bedroom… He put his headphones on as a police officer approached him.
“The police noted that there were five animals in the bedroom, including two small dogs and two cats.
“Dr Samuel told the police about a cellar and showed them a trap door, covered by a carpet and a table.
“Dr Samuel turned on the light and officers saw that there were a large number of dogs in cages in the cellar. Dr Samuel said ‘these are her animals, she collects them, she never feeds them’.
“The police noted the dirty state of the premises and that the cages in the cellar were dirty. There was only water in one cage and the lack of water was a common theme throughout the premises.
“The huskies in the cellar had been there without a break for 48 hours in cramped conditions with no natural light and that they had been spending long periods in the cellar for at least several weeks. It found the cages in the cellar were in fact built to house the huskies.”
Samuel tried to blame McEwan, in her 20s at the time, by claiming they were her sole responsibility. The pair were experiencing relationship issues.
However, Samuel was found to have breached his duties as a vet as he was ‘completely indifferent to their plight’ and ‘tried to wash his hands’ of the situation by ignoring it.
Sentencing:
Samuel – 12-week suspended prison sentence; 150 hours of unpaid work; total of £700 fine and costs. Banned from keeping animals for life. Barred from practising as a veterinary surgeon.
McEwan – 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months; 150 hours of unpaid work; £250 costs. Disqualified from keeping animals for life.
Update December 2021
Leeds Live reported that Samuel had failed in his bid to get back his licence to practise as a vet.
In trying to convince the RCVS tribunal to reinstate his licence, Samuel claimed he was ‘in a completely different place than he was before’ and had ‘read extensively about animal welfare issues’.
He said: “Now that I have gone through this reformation process I would never have animals belonging to someone else kept in a vet practice, [I] understand that it is important that animals under my care must meet animal welfare standards of adequate lighting, space, ventilation a clean supply of food and water, exercise and social interaction.”
But a stunned Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons [RCVS] committee rejected his case.
They said: “Dr Samuel had, by this time, been practising as a veterinary surgeon for some 16 years.
“The Committee considered it extraordinary that he would require some sort of reformation in order to realise that animals under his care would need such basic essentials as adequate lighting, space, ventilation a clean supply of food and water, exercise and social interaction.
“All pet owners, let alone veterinary surgeons, would or should be aware of such basic matters.
“Furthermore, although he claimed to have undergone a reformation, the Committee noted that Dr Samuel referred to his conduct variously as an error, a mistake and a misjudgment. “Having heard from him, the Committee witnessed no depth of feeling, no sense of true remorse and no degree of upset for the animals that had suffered.
“The Committee could not be confident that Dr Samuel would not allow animals in his care to suffer in the future.”