Animal Sanctuaries covers cases where cruelty, neglect or mismanagement occurs within organisations that present themselves as rescue centres or welfare providers. These incidents often involve large numbers of animals kept in overcrowded or filthy conditions, untreated illness, hoarding‑style accumulation, financial mismanagement, or deliberate deception of donors and the public. Sanctuary abuse represents a serious breach of trust, where facilities claiming to protect animals instead expose them to prolonged suffering, squalor and exploitation.
CONVICTED (2026) | Billy J J Woodhouse, born 24 July 1998, owner of Hatton Boarding Kennels, 4 Wolverhampton Road, Shifnal TF11 9HP – allowed multiple dogs in his care to die from severe neglect and starvation.
In January 2026 Billy Woodhouse was arrested after a police raid of his boarding kennels uncovered a burial mound containing the emaciated remains of nine dogs. Investigations revealed the causes of death were tied to severe neglect and starvation.
Surviving dogs were removed from the site by a dog warden and a local animal rescue charity.
Woodhouse had previously had his operating license suspended by Shropshire Council in December 2022 due to concerns about his compliance with licensing conditions.
According to various social media reports, several Romanian rescue dogs staying at the kennels had either died or gone missing in the months leading up to this event.
Despite no longer being licensed to operate a boarding kennels, Woodhouse continued to take bookings, dismissing bad online reviews as “rubbish” when questioned by owners.
Then, in August 2024, the council’s licensing department received a complaint from the owner of a dog named Stewie, who was put down following a stay at the kennels.
In police statements the owner said she had learned about the kennels from adverts online which said the business was licensed.
The woman said that when she collected Stewie on August 12, 2024, Woodhouse handed the animal over wrapped in a towel with only his face visible.
Woodhouse told her Stewie, who was around seven or eight years old, had been unwell for a few days, but that he had not taken him to a vet.
The owner took Stewie to her own vet where he had been seen one month earlier and assessed as healthy.
But now he was found to have a flat injury on his face, scabs on his tail, abscesses on both hind legs and yellow staining to his white fur. He was put down soon after.
“He had lost a lot of weight,” the owner said. “I could see his bones. He wouldn’t lift his head. He wasn’t breathing properly, he was very subdued.”
The vet said Stewie’s pressure wounds were “consistent with laying in one position for 24 hours”.
Woodhouse was prosecuted ifor animal welfare and fraud in early 2025 and pleaded not guilty.
But in November 2025, while he was awaiting trial, another woman whose pet had died at the kennels contacted the authorities.
The woman said she paid £96 to leave her dog, Enzo, at Hatton Boarding Kennels in August 2025, but days later she was told he died there.
A third woman left her dogs, Bruno and Nala, in Woodhouse’s care on four occasions between the summer of 2023 and New Year’s Day 2026.
The court heard the woman had noticed negative reviews of the kennels and mentioned them to Woodhouse but he had dismissed them as “rubbish” and “made up over minor issues”.
For the most recent stay, over last Christmas, she was promised regular photo updates from the kennels but was not provided with any.
Upon collecting her pets in the new year she noticed they were “dirty and visibly skinny”. She estimated one of the dogs had lost “about a third of her body weight”.
Around the same time, Woodhouse had taken in 11 dogs belonging to a woman who was suffering severe mental health issues and was unable to look after them herself. Some of the animals had been rescued from abroad.
In January 2026 a social worker became concerned the woman was at risk of being exploited financially, and made several attempts to contact Woodhouse.
On January 14 she called West Mercia Police.
The following day officers entered Hatton Boarding Kennels where a sniffer dog discovered a makeshift burial area. Police exhumed the bodies of nine dead dogs., believed to be the vulnerable woman’s.
Three cats, who were alive, were also found and taken to a rescue.
Surviving animals returned to their owners were found severely emaciated (some losing up to a third of their body weight), dirty, dehydrated, and suffering from untreated injuries and abscesses.
Woodhouse later admitted to animal welfare offences, fraud, and operating without a license after subsequent inspections.
Mitigating for Woodhouse, Martin McNamara said his client had taken on running the business after the death of his mother and had “good intentions” but “became overwhelmed”.
He said that his client had “significant mental health issues” and was “not capable of running the kennels”.
Mr McNamara said Woodhouse is the sole carer for two family members and has been threatened by people in relation to the case.
The facility at 4 Wolverhampton Road, Shifnal, is completely shut down and no longer permitted to operate or take animal bookings of any kind.
Sentencing | 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months; ordered to pay £1,000 towards court costs and a £187 victim surcharge. He is legally disqualified from keeping or owning animals for a decade but can appeal after five years.
CONVICTED (2026) | Sandra Jane Woods, born c. 1957, of Kirby Road, Walton-on-the-Naze CO14 8TA, and Rachel Elizabeth Woods, born 2 July 1994, of Norwood Way, Walton-on-the-Naze CO14 – for cruelty to multiple animals.
The mother and daughter ran an equine rescue operation called Silver Clouds Stables from their home in Kirby Road, Walton. The rescue purported to offer a “safe haven dedicated to rehabilitating and protecting injured, mistreated, or abandoned horses and ponies”.
But on August 16, 2023, the RSPCA and police executed a warrant at the premises, seizing horses, ducks and a donkey, and the pair were subsequently charged with animal welfare offences.
In court, Sandra Woods was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a female dun Arab type horse called Viv, between July 15, 2023 and August 17, 2023, by failing to investigate and address the causes of the horse’s poor bodily condition and weight loss.
The court heard she also caused unnecessary suffering to a male cockerel and a female chicken and failed to ensure the welfare needs of 29 chickens and cockerels, seven ducks and 15 guinea pigs were met.
She also failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the needs of seven ducks and 15 guinea pigs were met, including a suitable environment, an adequate diet with fresh drinking water and maintaining them in appropriate body condition.
Rachel Woods was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to Viv, by failing to provide proper and necessary veterinary care and attention for the animal’s lameness.
She was also convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a male donkey, female dun Arab type horse and a female grey pony. She also failed to meet the welfare needs of a male donkey, a grey pony, a female chihuahua type dog and a female marmoset, by not providing effective parasite control, maintaining appropriate body condition or ensuring suitable environments and diets.
In relation to the dog and marmoset, she also failed to make suitable provisions for pregnancy, suitable environment and diet, and appropriate housing away from other species where required.
Sentencing | Sarah and Rachel Woods were each ordered to pay a total of £3,120 made up of an £800 fine, £2,000 costs and a £320 victim surcharge. Both are banned from keeping animals for five years (expires June 2031).
CONVICTED (2026) | backyard breeder and bogus pet rescue owner Oaveed ‘Obi’ Rahman, born 7 August 1999, previously of Hope Road, Crays Hill, Billericay CM11 2XS and with strong family links to Walthamstow, London – for extreme animal cruelty and fraud.
Oaveed Rahman was sentenced to five years in prison for running a fraudulent animal rescue center in Essex where 41 dogs were found dead. The case involved 21 living dogs and a cat found in squalid, filthy conditions, living among the carcasses of other animals. Countless dogs are still missing.
In one of the most disturbing animal cruelty cases to shake the UK in recent times, Oaveed Rahman, who went by the nickname ‘Obi’. admitted causing unnecessary suffering to almost two dozen animals found starved and horrifically neglected at the Crays Hill premises of his fake rehoming charity, Save a Paw UK (SAP).
SAP’s premises in Hope Road, Crays Hill, was described a mass graveyard of dogs.
The decomposing remains of a further 41 dogs were discovered at the site but father-of-two Rahman was only prosecuted in relation to the surviving animals.
Microchips were found at the scene but officers have been unable to trace the dogs’ owners from them.
It is likely that the owners of many of the deceased dogs will never be identified.
Deceased: SparkoDeceased: RudyDeceased: Odie
At the time of writing, between 80 and 100 dogs that have passed through the doors of SAP remain unaccounted for. Sadly many are now presumed dead following months of fruitless appeals by heartbroken owners for information on their whereabouts.
Rahman’s conviction followed an investigation led by Essex Police and supported by Basildon Council, and the RSPCA.
Rahman first came to the attention of Essex Police in April 2025 after neighbours and passers-by contacted them with welfare concerns for the animals being kept at Save a Paw UK. Some locals reported hearing whining and crying coming from the dogs.
Source: Essex Police
Action Fraud were also involved because Rahman had taken thousands of pounds from people who left him their pets when they were unable to continue looking after them.
He had promised to stay in touch with them to let them know how the animals were doing but would then become difficult to contact or would block them on social media.
Detectives gathered intelligence and on 13 May 2025 they raided the property which also served as the family home of Rahman, his Hungarian wife Greta Rahman née Greta Csikos*, and their two young children.
Twenty-one live dogs and a kitten were found confined in small, unsanitary spaces without water, food, bedding or adequate living conditions.
Pens and cages were covered in faeces and surviving dogs were severely underweight but were tormented by the fact that they could smell open bags of food nearby but were unable to get to them.
One pet was so traumatised he was no longer able to bark.
All showed clear signs of sustained suffering, likely lasting weeks or months.
Then the remains of 37 animals were found in bins, outbuildings and gardens. The bodies were riddled with maggots and the site was also infested with rats.
Four more deceased dogs were found during a follow-up visit by police on 4 June when an outbuilding was dismantled. Some animals were underground.
The dead animals were so badly decomposed that post-mortem examination could not be carried out.
Eyewitness accounts say that many of the dogs had been beaten to death and their remains dismembered and burnt, but this was not confirmed in court.
Critics also fear scores of other animals may have died there – including exotic creatures such as marmoset monkeys and a llama which he posted about online – as they remain unaccounted for.
Greta Csikos
Three of the rescued dogs were so ill they had to be euthanised, and one poodle lost her sight.
Prosecution by the CPS followed a complex multi-agency investigation. While initially denying the charges, Rahman ultimately admitted his guilt in return for the charges against his wife being dropped.
On 20 February 2026 he appeared by video link from HMP Chelmsford for sentencing. The hearing was presided over by Judge Richard Conley.
The court was told that Rahmanhad advertised his rehoming and training services for his unregistered charity on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
In a statement read to the court by prosecutor Tom Godfrey, Amy Cooper, a vet called to the scene with police, said as soon as she left her vehicle she was met with a “hideous smell” despite parking 40 metres away from the premises.
Mrs Cooper continued: “It became apparent that the smell was that of decaying, putrefying flesh.”
She wrote that the conditions at Rahman’s property were “the most horrendous thing I had ever seen… For any human or other animal to have been kept in or around this is unthinkable.”
In an outbuilding, she saw “three fetid, large dog carcases.”
In another location, she observed “a mass of fur with a collar”.
Some rooms were “piled full of” dead dogs, riddled with maggots. Rats were scurrying around.
“It was a sight that brought me to tears,” she wrote.
She said the dogs kept in pens would have faced “mental turmoil” as there were open bags of food in the property which they could not access.
Mr Godfrey told the court: “Rahman made the decision to house these dogs in inhumane conditions… whether this was some satisfaction from the power that he was able to exert over these dogs is a matter for your honour, but it is difficult to see why else Rahman would house the live dogs with the deceased dogs.”
Rahman was also charged with 11 counts of fraud by false representation.
Setting out the fraud case, Mr Godfrey said that Rahman had operated under the false pretext of a dog rehoming charity,
His frauds were perpetrated by “deceiving individuals into surrendering their dogs, often with a payment, with assurances that the dogs would be rehoused and rehabilitated.”
Some of these dogs “were subsequently found deceased at Mr Rahman’s home address.”
In mtigation, Molly Pinkus told the court her client had “expressed remorse over his crimes”.
This assertion was met with groans and laughter from some spectators, prompting an admonishment from the judge not to interrupt.
“He wishes to express his apologies to all concerned for the offences to which he has pleaded guilty,” she continued.
She said he suffers from “social and psychiatric conditions”, including anxiety, depression and neurodevelopmental issues.
He is currently on medication, she said, but has in the past been “industrious” and “hard-working”, with prior jobs in “estate agency and the hotel industry”.
Miss Pinkus said Rahman had a genuine “wish to help and look after dogs”.
“He wanted to assist dogs – particularly those dogs which needed specific assistance,” she says.
“Mr Rahman had a genuine desire and wish and did successfully treat, retrain and, I think, rehome a number of animals.”
“Well, that’s what he says,” replied Judge Conley. “But I haven’t seen any evidence of that… You would think if that was true, he would be able to back that up.”
The judge said none of the reports seem to get to the bottom of Rahman’s motivation for what has happened.
“I can’t make sense of it,” he said.
The garden of Hope Road, Crays Hill. A sign affixed to a shed read “No tresspassing. We’re tired of hiding the bodies”.
Sentencing Rahman, Judge Richard Conley told him he had committed an ‘act of betrayal of epic proportion that has devastated many lives’. He had used “personal charm and persuasion” to dupe his victims, supported by “numerous online positive reviews”, but was in fact “callous” and “barbaric”, inflicting “cruelty and neglect”.
“All of them endured unbearable pain, misery and torment,” he said of the animals.
They “lived out what was left of their short lives in abject misery.”
Some of the dogs that had starved to death were muzzled, said the judge.
Judge Conley said the details of what was found at Rahman’s compound are so “utterly harrowing” that they “reduced many present to tears” when described in court.
“It would have been so glaringly obvious that to keep dogs in those conditions, without food, water, exercise, sanitation, in the presence of other dead and dying dogs, with no stimulation, no comfort – that went beyond mere neglect,” says the judge.
“That constituted acts of cruelty
Judge Conley said Rahman had “numerous advantages” in his early life, with a well-off, supportive family that sent him to private school.
He said he had found it “almost impossible” to divine a motive for Rahman’s actions.
He is “resigned to the conclusion that this is something that will forever remain a mystery to me and perhaps even to you. Some behaviour simply defies rational explanation.”
As the case concluded a woman in the gallery shouted: “I hope you die in there, you bastard! I hope you rot in there, you dirty bastard!”
Rahman also admitted owning a banned XL bully dog, for which he was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment to be served concurrently.
Sentencing | 38 months in prison for animal cruelty, plus 22 months consecutive for the frauds – a total sentence of five years. Indefinite ban on owning cats or dogs, but with a provision that after 15 years he can apply to lift it, requiring him to prove he is a fit and proper person.
*Rahman’s wife Greta Csikos, who lived with him on the site in Hope Road, was initially charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and failing to ensure animal welfare. She entered a ‘not guilty’ plea in October 2025.
After Rahman changed his plea to guilty, prosecutors decided to acquit Csikos. The judge confirmed the case against her would lie on file.
According to news reports, Csikos is now living in Sinclair Road, Chingford, East London.
Rahman’s Alleged “Right Hand Man”: arrested but never charged
It was reported that “a 38-year-old man of no fixed address” was arrested alongside Rahman.
Believed to be the individual pictured (possibly named Costi and the brother of Greta Csikos), he faced charges of fraud as well as animal cruelty but a few days after his arrest, a police media release said he would “face no further action”.
Anecdotal information on social media suggested ‘Costi’ admitted he had killed dogs at SAP on Rahman’s bidding. This information must be treated as uncorroborated and untested in court.
CONVICTED (2026) | Sharon Baker, born c. 1968, of The Ridge, Hastings TN34 2AB – left five horses in a suffering state.
Baker, former owner of the Undercliff Pony Rescue in Rye, East Sussex, pleaded guilty to one offence of causing unnecessary suffering to equines under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Her conviction, which related to horses kept in a field at Burgh Hill, near Etchingham, followed a joint investigation by the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare (WHW).
One of the horses was underweight while others were suffering from health problems like lice infestation, intestinal inflammation and dental problems. One horse had to have a large number of teeth removed.
RSPCA Inspector Georgina Bowles and an officer from WHW made a pre-arranged welfare check on 27 March 2025 to the location where the defendant kept 13 equines.
Baker phoned the inspector shortly before the visit to say that she was in hospital and she would not be able to attend, but it became clear to the officers viewing from the perimeter of the field that some equines were in a poor condition.
“From the gate I could clearly see an extremely skinny horse that had a rug on,” said the Inspector in a statement to the court. “Its bones were very sharp under the rug and its back end was flat, not round as it should be. It was also clear a few of the horses were suffering from fur loss on the face and body.”
A vet who attended the location confirmed that five of the horses were in a suffering state. These were piebald cob geldings Obi and Dozzer, a chestnut gelding called Texas, Phoebe, a chestnut mare, and Thunder, a New Forest pony gelding.
Police rural crime officers were called to attend and the horses were seized and placed in the care of the RSPCA. Advisory notices were also issued to a relative of the defendant, who attended the scene, to improve the living conditions and provide vet treatment for some of the other equines.
In mitigation, the defendant admitted she had taken “her eyes off the ball” with the care of the equines, but that the suffering was restricted to a short period of time.
Speaking after the hearing, Inspector Bowles said: “These equines suffered from poor animal husbandry and were left in this field for a period without proper care and attention.
“Owning an animal is a privilege and ensuring appropriate veterinary care when needed is a key part of the responsibility we have towards them.”
The RSPCA confirmed the five horses were “happily rehomed”.
Sentencing | 12-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work and 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days; costs of £1,000 and a victim surcharge of £114. Banned from keeping equines for 10 years (expires February 2036).
CONVICTED (2026) | pet peddler and bogus rescue owner Sarah Jane Taylor, born 9 November 1967, previously of Queensway, Burton Latimer, Kettering NN15 5QN and now living at Oakley Park travellers site, Ashley Road, Middleton, Market Harborough LE16 8YP – kept pets and poultry in atrocious conditions.
In May 2025, officers from Northamptonshire Police’s Rural Crime Team attended the Burton Latimer home of Sarah Taylor after receiving welfare concersn about animals kept at the address. At the time Taylor was running a bogus rescue called Northamptonshire Poultry Rescue and Rehome Desborough.
Taylor refused the police officers entry, stating that she only had one dog and nothing more, but they could see multiple animal pens in the back garden – including a dead rabbit.
The following day police returned with a warrant. During a search of the property they found multiple animals including three budgies, a cockatoo, four chicks, one chicken and two dogs.
The court heard that all the animals were held in unsuitable conditions with the floor inside the house and in the back garden wet and covered in animal excrement.
A vet was called and following their assessment, all of the animals were removed from the house under Section 18 (5) of the Animal Welfare Act.
Taylor was subsequently charged with two counts of failing to meet the needs of animals and one count of causing unnecessary suffering to animals, both under the Animal Welfare Act.
Taylor pleaded guilty to the offences and was sentenced on 4 February 2026.
All of the animals were then rehomed. One of the rescued dogs – a Staffy named Hugo – gained 4kg in weight in just 13 days after being fed an appropriate diet.
PC Chloe Gillies said: “I hope this case demonstrates the seriousness with which the Rural Crime Team takes reports of animal suffering and that we will do whatever we can to act quickly and prevent any further distress.
“Finally, I’d like to thank the RSPCA inspectors and the RSPCA Animal Rescue Officers who worked with us on this case for their invaluable support.”
Sentencing | community order with 20 days of ‘rehab’. Banned from keeping animals for 10 years (expires February 2036).
Northamptonshire Police issued a news release confirming that Taylor had been charged with breaching an Animal Disqualification Order, four counts under Section 4 – causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, one offence under Section 9 – failing to meet the needs of an animal, one count of criminal damage, and two counts of assaulting emergency workers.
The charges relate to a warrant executed by police in partnership with the RSPCA at a property in Middleton on Tuesday, February 24, when officers from the Rural Crime Team found animals inside. A large number of birds were also found at a separate address in Desborough.
On 26 February Taylor pleaded guilty to breaching an Animal Disqualification Order and not guilty to the other eight charges.
She was remanded into custody and will next appear at Northampton Crown Court on April 15, 2026.
CONVICTED (2025) | puppy farm dealer Micaela Anderson-Letts aka Micaela Von Cydzik, born May 1989, of The Rowans, Sunbury-on-Thames TW16 7QG* – left 35 puppies and an adult dog without food and water in a dilapidated caravan covered in faeces.
Mother-of-one Anderson-Letts, who has links to South-West London (Kingston-upon-Thames and Surbiton), Ashford in Surrey and Hayes in the London Borough of Hillingdon, was spared jail despite being convicted of a catalogue of animal welfare offences.
Police rescued the dogs from the caravan in Lister Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, in July 2021. All of the dogs needed treatment for malnourishment with one dachshund puppy too poorly to be saved.
Body-worn camera footage released by Sussex Police shows officers rescuing the dogs – a mix of labradors, dachshunds and French bulldogs – who are then seen gulping water from a big bowl.
At Kingston Crown Court on 7 January 2025, Anderson-Letts, who reportedly posed as a dog rescuer under the name 2nd Chance Rescue, was sentenced for causing unnecessary suffering for the dogs, along with 15 other animal-related crimes.
These included faking importation documents for under-age puppies and selling puppies without a licence in 2020. Adverts showed she had the potential to make £173,000 from the sales while misleading potential buyers over the reasons they were being sold.
On July 26 2021, police attended a car park after members of the public reported a large number of dogs in a caravan left in direct sunlight with the windows closed.
Sussex Police investigating officer Marie Jenner said: “The whole floor was covered in faeces and urine-soaked cardboard. There were exposed wires, nails and screws, and broken pieces of wood and tools throughout. The conditions were completely uninhabitable.
“The dogs were retrieved from the caravan and placed in makeshift pens where we provided them with bowls of water. They were drinking uncontrollably, which gave an indicate of their desperation to rehydrate.
“A vet arrived on scene and explained that the dogs were suffering – and would continue to suffer if left in these conditions – and therefore they were seized under the Animal Welfare Act.”
The force added that the dachshund puppy’s cause of death was starvation and dehydration. She was one of 14 young dogs treated in hospital.
During sentencing, Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey said: “What is clear, investigations show Micaela Anderson-Letts was part of a Facebook group advertising these dogs for sale.
“It was clear she had these dogs for no other reason than to sell them on and make a profit.”
On May 19, 2020, animal welfare inspectors discovered dozens of dead, neglected and suffering animals, including dogs, pigs and poultry, in the garden of Anderson-Letts’ then home in Surbiton, south-west London.
Over 80 animals were taken into care. They included 23 puppies and dogs, with many needing to spend time at quarantine kennels, and most needing veterinary treatment.
They also found remains and other pigs still alive in hot sunshine in a pen too small for them to lie down, and without food or water.
The judge added: “On the one hand what you did was so disgraceful and uncaring to those animals in our view it should be an immediate custodial sentence.”
But the sentence was suspended for two years, taking into account her young child and caring responsibilities.
After the sentencing, PC Jenner added: “It transpired that Anderson-Letts had previously been issued an animal banning order and showed complete disregard to the judicial system by continuing to involve herself with puppies.
“After lots of hard work and dedication over the past three years, I am happy that this case has finally come to a conclusion.
“I would like to thank all staff and officers involved, the RSPCA inspectors, vets and vital witnesses who supported this investigation, along with members of the public who assisted in the rescue of these innocent puppies.
“After the appropriate veterinary treatment and care the dogs were rehomed to loving families.”
Sentencing | 24 months in prison, suspended for two years; ordered to complete 300 hours unpaid work and up to 20 days of rehabilitation. Banned from owning animals or applying for licences involving animals.
Micaela Anderson-Letts has been ordered to pay more than £157,000 for running an illegal puppy farm.
The financial investigation concluded with a Confiscation Order, requiring Anderson-Letts to pay £157,269.25 within three months or face an 18-month prison term.
CONVICTED (2024) | Elizabeth Palmer, born 10 August 1944, of the Retreat Animal Sanctuary, Llethr Uchaf, Mynachlogddu, Clynderwen SA66 7SA – for prolonged neglect of 11 donkeys and a pony with three animals having to be euthanised.
Palmer pleaded guilty to two charges under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The court heard that between September 2023 and March 2024, Palmer failed to provide the animals in her care with essential farrier and dental treatment, leaving them in significant distress.
The offences came to light following an investigation by the RSPCA, which revealed severe neglect on Palmer’s smallholding.
In a witness statement to the court, the investigating RSPCA Inspector said he was requested by a Donkey Welfare Adviser from The Donkey Sanctuary to attend the smallholding in the Crymych area.
The equine vet said that all of the donkeys needed to be removed as all had caused unnecessary suffering due to overgrown hooves, lice, dermatitis, poor body condition.
She also said that a pony was in such a suffering state that she needed to be put to sleep on welfare grounds.
A consent form for this was signed by the owner who also signed the animals across to the RSPCA.
Eight of the rescued donkeys – Angel, Coco, Jack, Jane, Jenny, Toffee, Rosie and Paris – are now living in a group at The Donkey Sanctuary in Devon where they have settled in very well.
Sadly, two of the donkeys had to be euthanised due to ill health and another was not fit to travel so is living in a group with similar needs at another of the charity’s facilities.
The surviving donkeys are doing well in the care of The Donkey Sanctuary.
Magistrates described the offences as “so serious” that Palmer was giving a custodial sentence, albeit suspended.
The court further granted the RSPCA authority to seize any animals in her possession.
Sentencing | 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months; ordered to pay a £150 victim surcharge, £400 in court costs, and £3,570.62 towards the RSPCA’s prosecution costs. Disqualified from owning, keeping, or dealing with any animals, except for dogs and cats, for 10 years but can appeal after five years (expires December 2034).
CONVICTED (2024) | owl sanctuary owner Paul Allen Rose, born 5 January 1953, of Foxfield Road, Walney, Barrow-in-Furness LA14 3SJ – neglected the needs of birds in the care of his rescue and kept them in poor conditions.
Paul Rose MBE, founder of The Owl Sanctuary, pleaded guilty on the day of his trial to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and one count of failing to ensure animal welfare, contrary to Section 4 and Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Prosecutor Joel Wootton told the court that officers from Cumbria Police and the RSPCA conducted inspections at two of the charity’s aviaries on March 8, 2022.
Twenty-six owls were seized from a lockup on Brady’s Yard after they were found to have been crammed into cramped, cluttered cages in an aviary that had no windows.
The owls did not have enough space to open their wings.
A further five owls were seized from the defendant’s property on Foxfield Road, Walney.
Two of these owls were euthanised within 48 hours due to having serious neurological problems and being unable to stand properly.
One barn owl was found to have suffered a fractured wing.
Another owl was later put to sleep whilst in the care of the RSPCA.
An RSPCA inspector commented that the owls were all ‘suffering to some degree’, the court heard.
Pictured is Ludo who was euthanised after suffering neurological damage.
Rose also admitted he had displayed an ‘amber listed’ tawny owl named Ludo for commercial purposes without an Article 10 certificate.
The court heard that this was the same owl that was neurologically damaged.
The court was told Rose applied for a exhibition licence to show all of his owls at local schools and other events in 2020, which was later revoked.
He was sentenced on the basis that he cared for every one of his birds, that he did not commit the offences out of any malice, and that he did so as a result of overwhelming demand for his services, his poor health and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In mitigation, Joseph Hart said his client had not been ‘deliberately cruel’.
Mr Hart added: “It is quite clear this defendant was regularly consulting vets about the birds in his care.
“He is besotted with his animals and has devoted himself to them.
“He consulted vets about the two owls that were ultimately destroyed two years before the offending. Having taken them to the vets, they were released back to him.
“He began with the best of intentions but by the time we get to March 8, he had a very large amount of owls in wholly unsatisfactory conditions and he has not sought medical advice.
“This is not a deliberate attempt to cause suffering, but it is arguably a prolonged period of neglect.
“There is no suggestion these animals were being used for commercial gain. He genuinely cared for the animals, perhaps too much as he refused to hand them over.”
The court heard Rose, who served as an RAF reservist for many years and who was awarded an MBE in 2002 for services to the defence industry, was a man of previous good character, save for a previous caution in 2011 for failing to apply for an Article 10 certificate.
Sentencing Rose, Recorder Katie Jones said: “These birds were kept in woefully inadequate conditions in dark, cold and dusty spaces. The biggest enclosure you had was 109cm x 75cm x 69cm which was significantly smaller dimensions than the recommended dimensions.
“You simply failed to discharge your duty to consider their welfare.
“It was not your intention to cause the birds any harm, but you had plenty of warning about what was expected of you.
“You could have asked for help and you should have familiarised yourself with what suitable conditions these animals need.”
Sentencing | 20-week prison sentence suspended for two years; one-month curfew. Disqualified from owning or keeping all birds for five years to give him ‘time to engage in educational work’. The order also prohibits Rose from controlling or influencing the way in which birds are kept.
In October 2022 it was reported that the Owl Sanctuary is to be investigated by the Charities Commission after concerns were raised about how a £225,000 legacy and other funds were spent.
BBC News undertook its own investigation into the charity’s affairs and published a detailed report here.
CONVICTED (2024) | Lynn Haydon-Williams, born 6 April 1960, of Redgate, Hyde SK14 5DE, and Charlotte Haydon-Williams, born 17 November 1988, of Cheetham Fold Road, Hyde SK14 5DF – for the neglect of multiple animals in the care of their sanctuary.
Mother and daughter Lynn and Charlotte Haydon-Williams were found guilty of a number of offences following a trial on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
The court heard how neglected horses, including one suffering with multiple tumours, lame goats, pigs with hoof problems and an arthritic coatimundi were found at the Haywill Animal Centre by the RSPCA.
During 2020 and 2021, the RSPCA identified animal welfare concerns at sites in Glossop, Derbyshire and Broadbottom in Manchester.
The RSPCA had visited the rescue on previous occasions during which they had offered support and advice to the founder/owner Lynn Haydon-Williams.
In a statement read to the court RSPCA inspector Jessica Araujo said she recalled attending the centre on May 11, 2021, when she saw “goats with overgrown feet that were struggling to walk normally, grossly obese pigs, a coati that appeared to have small masses on its underside and a horse with overgrown feet”.
Inspector Araujo continued: “I saw a number of large goats with overgrown hooves that appeared to have difficulty walking normally or walking at all. There was also a black pygmy goat who looked quite thin and you could feel his spine and hips when you put your hands on him.”
Among the animals taken into the care of the RSPCA was Gemma, a grey bay mare, who was covered in skin tumours. A vet later decided that the kindest course of action was to put her to sleep to end her suffering.
Another horse, called Casper, who was suffering from laminitis was also, sadly, put to sleep, as was a pot-bellied pig, who was suffering from overgrown feet.
An emaciated pygmy goat and the coatimundi, who was in poor health, passed away later.
Several of the horses required treatment for foot and hoof ailments.
In mitigation for Lynn Haydon-Williams, the court was told she previously did “a lot of good work for many people for a long time”. It was said that Covid impacted the rescue’s finances and lessened her ability to look after the animals. It was said that she had not deliberately mistreated the animals.
The court heard that Charlotte Haydon-Williams suffered from health problems which affected her care of the horse. The court accepted she was not responsible for the care of the other animals.
Lynn Haydon-Williams initially pleaded not guilty to 15 charges, but she was convicted of 13 offences after a trial.
Charlotte Haydon-Williams pleaded not guilty to the same 15 charges and was convicted of three offences relating to the care of a horse. It was ruled she had no case to answer on the remaining 12 charges.
The surviving animals – a horse and 10 goats – will be rehomed by the RSPCA.
Speaking after the sentencing, Inspector Araujo said: “This owner was given ample time and opportunity to get the help she needed to give these animals the veterinary care and treatment they needed. Sadly, she did not take action and the animals suffered for longer than they had to.”
Sentencing | Lynn Haydon-Williams: six-month custodial suspended for 18 months; 240 hours of unpaid work; £240 costs and £156 victim surcharge. She was given a lifetime disqualification from keeping animals except for dogs and cats.
Charlotte Haydon-Williams: 12-month community order; fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs and £114 victim surcharge. Banned from keeping horses for three years (expires March 2027).
CONVICTED (2024) | petting farm owners Alan Riley, born c. 1970, and Sarah Nethercoat, born 14 July 1989, of Park Avenue, Beverley HU17 7AT – neglected a donkey and pony until they became so unwell they had to be put down.
Melody, a 30-year-old pony, and Maggie, a 15-year-old grey donkey, were among the animals neglected by Alan Riley and Sarah Nethercoat, owners of Aroha Donkeys rescue centre and sanctuary, at Ashfield Farm in Wilfholme, between Beverley and Driffield. Both were so emaciated and distressed that vets had no option but to euthanise them.
In court the couple admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the animals in 2021.
Aroha Donkeys was run as a business, which initially cared for donkeys used in beach rides but expanded to become a breeding and training centre. A total of 20 donkeys were kept at the centre as well as goats and ponies.
The RSPCA first became involved with the couple in July 2019, when a welfare officer advised them to provide the donkeys with shelter. Riley and Nethercoat insisted that a hedge in the field provided sufficient shelter for the animals. They also claimed that the donkeys received regular hoof and dental care.
The RSPCA issued them with a non-statutory improvement notice. Follow-up attempts to contact the pair were unsuccessful.
On a subsequent visit, officers found dirty bedding full of faeces. A shelter was too small for the number of animals using the centre.
In November 2021, RSPCA inspectors Tom Hutton and Alice Wilson along with staff from the Donkey Sanctuary charity, paid a visit to Ashfield Farm where they found around 25 horses and donkeys, owned by the pair, living in poor conditions in a field and barn.
Inspectors found poor quality fencing. A shelter area was made of corrugated iron, which was described as “rusty and dangerous”,
Inspector Hutton said in a statement presented to the court that there were concerns for the health of four animals, in particular Maggie and Melody.
“There were around 23 equines in a large paddock and an open barn with a thick straw bedding with excessive faeces inside,” said the inspector.
“As I walked around the field, there were several hazards littering the perimeter, including bits of loose wire, fallen fencing and loose fence posts.
“One small pony was extremely underweight as it walked across the field towards us with her head down. Her ribs and hip bones were excessively prominent.”
“The owners said they were providing feed. But there was now evidence the animals were in a sub-optimal condition,” he added.
Elderly pony Melody (pictured) was suffering with two large wounds and one small one to her side. These had been left untreated for weeks if not months
Vet Suzanne Green attended the scene and found Melody in a weak, thin and lethargic state, with a wound to the side shoulder and a second large wound on one of her thighs.
They were inflamed and bleeding and in the vet’s expert opinion they had been left untreated for weeks, if not months.
Nethercoat told the vet that the wound had been treated for about six months with antibiotics. No evidence was provided to substantiate the treatment.
Melody and Maggie and the two other horses were removed from the field, with Melody later transferred to an equine hospital for treatment.
Prosecutor Phil Brown told the court: “Melody needed urgent treatment for overgrown hooves as there had been a lack of hoof care. There was pain and suffering.
“Euthanasia was the only way to ease the suffering,
“They also found ulcerations to the mouth which had made eating difficult.”
Pregnant donkey Maggie required urgent treatment to her hooves. X-rays taken later showed that the failure to provide hoof care had caused malformed bone structures within her feet and osteoarthritis.
She had bonded with another donkey who was earlier found dead in a field.
Maggie gave birth before she too was put down in February 2024.
Riley’s lawyer, Matthew Moore-Taylor, told the court his client had an acute bowel condition, which caused a serious reduction in his weight. Before 2021, all the animals in the centre were in good condition, he added.
For Nethercoat, Sheila Whitehead said: “She needed more help than she admitted. People came to her with wild animals for care. She has always allowed the animals to come to her irrespective of the condition they were in..”
The pony was old. so certain treatments could not be done, Miss Whitehead said. “She was very upset it had got to the level that it had.
“She is remorseful that it got to the position that it had,” she added.
It was claimed that any money raised at the donkey sanctuary was ploughed back into the centre for feed and care.
Sentencing the pair, Recorder MacDonald KC said he had read testimonials highlighting their care for animals.
“But you don’t have to be an expert to see that the pony had three significant injuries, ribs sticking out and was malnourished and you could see it needed veterinary treatment,” he added.
“It is perfectly clear to me, being a non-veterinary person, its ribs were poking out and it had a large wound on the shoulder and the thigh was bleeding. These injuries had been there for weeks or months. It was chronically mal-nourished.”
Recorder MacDonald said that he did not view the petting farm as a money-making venture. He accepted that both defendants had health problems and it was this that caused neglect of the animals, rather than a cynical disregard for the animals’ care to make money.
“These were just two of a much larger number of animals which were generally in good condition,” Recorder MacDonald added.
Speaking after the sentencing, RSPCA inspector Tom Hutton said: “This was a clear case of neglect. Both these equines were left in appalling conditions when they needed urgent vet treatment and one sadly had to be put to sleep because she was so unwell.”
Riley, a former farmer, and Nethercoat, who worked as a riding instructor, were well-known in the area as their donkeys, many of whom were rescue animals, took part in events such as the Beverley Christmas Festival.
In 2021 they were given sudden notice to leave a smallholding between Beverley and Driffield they had been renting from a farmer and appealed for the public’s help in finding a new home.
Sentencing | six-month custodial, suspended for two years; 25 rehabilitation days. No order for costs was imposed because the petting farm was not making money. Both are disqualified from keeping donkeys, mules and equine hybrids for 10 years.
