CONVICTED (2017) | breeder Margaret (Maggie) Ann Mary Peacock, born 26 January 1953, of Cove Road, Farnborough GU14 0HQ – killed eight newborn puppies after stuffing them into a freezer
Maggie Peacock, a Crufts-winning dog breeder and former director of Maggie Peacock Working Dogs Limited, stuffed the blue merle border collie puppies in a freezer and beat another to death with a tin opener.
Peacock feared the puppies might have genetic mutations because their parents had been sister and brother.
She made two phone calls to vets threatening to kill the pups herself if they would not help her.
In a third call the breeder informed the receptionist that the puppies were now in the freezer because they had refused to put them down.
The following day, Peacock, who spent 14 years in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, arrived at the surgery and handed over a bag containing eight puppies. One was still alive but had to be put down.
Prosecuting, Andrew Austin told the court none of the pups showed any signs of having genetic defects, despite being inbred, and this was why vets had refused to put them down.
RSPCA officers performed an inspection at Peacock’s home where they found a ninth puppy, which was part of the same litter, lying on its side in a kennel. An examination revealed it had suffered a blow to the head – which officers later found was from a tin opener.
Fiona Taylor, defending, told the court Peacock had been distressed during the birth and after the vet refused to put the puppies down she felt the only solution was to take matters into her own hands to prevent the mum becoming emotionally attached to her pups.
In court, magistrate Dr Susan Dadlani said Peacock’s previous good record of keeping animals meant they would not be disqualifying her from continuing to do so, despite what she had done.
The Kennel Club, which operates the national register of pedigree dogs in the UK and acts as a lobby group on issues involving dogs, subsequently struck Peacock from its register for 10 years.
An RSPCA spokesperson said: “This was clearly a very upsetting case and one in which we are pleased that the court convicted the defendant of animal cruelty offences following the prosecution case brought by the RSPCA.
“The sentence imposed was a matter for the court to decide and we respect that decision.”
Sentencing: two concurrent 12 week jail terms, suspended for 12 months; ordered to pay £830.
Update February 2023
Margaret Peacock was jailed for two years and six months for failing to control her pet Belgian Malinois. The dog, named Mako, mauled a visitor causing her “significant” injuries and distress.
Peacock was convicted by a jury at Salisbury Crown Court of being in charge of Mako, who was dangerously out of control, causing severe injury to Natasha Turner.
Judge Richard Parkes KC also banned Peacock from owning dogs.
He told her: “You have shown no remorse whatsoever for what happened, indeed you continue to protest even today that Miss Turner turned up at your door having already been attacked by some savage stray.
“The only real mitigation in this very serious case is the fact that you are elderly and suffering from multiple sclerosis, a condition which plainly requires long-term treatment.”
The judge also ordered that Peacock’s two collie dogs and another Belgian Malinois – which is in the same herding group as the German shepherd – be seized by police.
Dr Candy d’Sa, animal behaviour consultant, told the court that she inspected Peacock’s home and found it unsuitable for keeping dogs.
She said: “The environment is absolutely unsuitable for animals, especially intelligent and active dogs. It was dangerous, barren and it was filthy.”
Sian Beaven, prosecuting, told the trial that Miss Turner had visited the home of the defendant in Farnborough, Hampshire, to do some DIY, and to visit her own dog, Bobo, which was staying there, when the attack happened.
Giving evidence, Miss Turner said she had visited Peacock, who is registered disabled with multiple sclerosis, on February 1, 2021, to move her bed to another room so it would be nearer to a woodburner because of the cold.
Miss Turner said that Peacock helped her to get the dog off but was bitten herself in the process, before the defendant managed to put the dog back behind the gate where it was normally kept.
She said that Peacock asked her afterwards not to contact the police because she was worried the dog would be put down, and also bought her gifts in an attempt to stop her from reporting the incident.
The defendant had denied that Mako carried out the attack and told the court that Ms Turner arrived injured at her front door having been attacked by a stray dog elsewhere.
The contract required Mako to be kept under control when visitors were at the property.
Ms Beaven added that Mako, which had been subject to a dog behaviour contract because of two previous incidents, had since been euthanised because of health problems.
Such A Shame.
Her Dogs look absolutely Stunning.
The Preventative to this would have been simple, and would have prevented all this Trouble and Heart Ache.
If You Want To Keep Brother and Sister, under the same roof in the same household. You Should Have Neutered The Male. It Doesn’t Cost Much. He Would Have Been Exactly The Same Working Dog. The Only Difference Is: He Would Not Be A Stud Dog. Simple.
Once upon a time people understood the full story before reacting, that’s the English way of doing things. So posting comment this kind of comment, irreversibly on the internet, like so many demented cats that many of you obviously are, my message is ‘ GO AWAY and find a better, more positive outlet for your frustration & spite . Get a hobby maybe if not a satisfying life? Wouldn’t’ hurt. But to you particularly, Michelle The Frvking Can’t, that YOU clearly are, and ditto to other trolls generally, think carefully and appraise yourself of the real facts first, before you randomly react like you did here . Honestly I despair of people like you. I’ve known Maggie since I was 3 years old, then about 18 and working s a vet nurse. Whole life devoted to care of all creatures great and small. Breeder of extra-ordinary shepherds like Karda, Dobes and latterly Collies. Real dogs with good health and temperaments. Working dogs that went into the minefields of Cambodia for example. Along with her. Not Kennel Club constructs with in-built, in-bred genetic issues so far removed from true / original type, often bred by repeated doubling up on genetic issues ( Cavalier King Charles Spaniels anyone? Shepherds that now look like banana-dogs and the breeders say is normal? Ridgebacks that, oh yes, only have the ridge because they’ve deliberately kept doubling up lines to create a lion-killing dog, with mild spina bifida. Short life span and a nasty end often. Go figure?! In my younger years, Maggie, just a really a teenager herself at that point, saved me from various dramas and, ironically a near drowning in Cove Brook courtesy of my seriously alcoholic mother and ditto but violent father. she got v wet saving me and THAT people is Maggie, not this bull$T And yes, in this instance and without knowing the full facts, I am pretty sure Maggie did what she thought was right and in an act of desperation. I actually endorse what she did under the circumstances. Two+ pups deformed. Extremely hard to keep apart two adults when the heat is up, impossible to separate once they’ve tied even if you are of good health and mobility, when you’re practically wheel-chair bound with MS and your asshole husband has abandoned you for a piece of skirt in Thailand. Meanwhile vets these days will only humanely destroy animals if they are literally bleeding to death. Not because they think it’s the wrong thing but because they risk this same kind of flack (THANK YOU AGAIN ‘FRVING CANT MICHELLE’) that Maggie has endured. Even before their liability insurance. It’s a horrible end to contemplate, no doubt. But a litter of pups, well fed and sleeping quietly whilst it gets colder and colder; their metabolisms slows and slows and they literally don’t know much about it. I am crying thinking about it, it actually takes a vast amount of strength to do this kind of thing. where I live in South America they just throw the pups in a sack and toss them in the river. If the pups are lucky the crocs eat them before they’ve had even a few minutes to panic and struggle for life. Or they get tossed on the middle of nowhere to starve and panic before the boas bite snd then strangle them to death. Message here people is this. If you honestly believe that Maggie, not the wealthiest person in the world, would instead prefer to sell on half a litter that looked good on paper and wee v pretty merles, but had inherent genetic weaknesses that’d mean a ton of vet bills and more importantly a likelihood of bad health. think again.
I regularly foster litters, thanks to my insane mother, know most things about dogs up to minor surgeries, thanks to Maggie the vet nurse, trainer of UXB search dogs in the worst parts of this planet and a bit of luck. Please, repeat, know your subject before you shoot off at the mouth, irreparably, courtesy of the internet.
You F…..C……
If I ever got my hands on you, I would cause the wost pain that any person on this F….. Up planet could ever receive. Bitch
Once upon a time people understood the full story before reacting, that’s the English way of doing things. So posting comment this kind of comment, irreversibly on the internet, like so many demented cats that many of you obviously are, my message is ‘ GO AWAY and find a better, more positive outlet for your frustration & spite . Get a hobby maybe if not a satisfying life? Wouldn’t’ hurt. But to you particularly, Michelle The Frvking Can’t, that YOU clearly are, and ditto to other trolls generally, think carefully and appraise yourself of the real facts first, before you randomly react like you did here . Honestly I despair of people like you. I’ve known Maggie since I was 3 years old, then about 18 and working s a vet nurse. Whole life devoted to care of all creatures great and small. Breeder of extra-ordinary shepherds like Karda, Dobes and latterly Collies. Real dogs with good health and temperaments. Working dogs that went into the minefields of Cambodia for example. Along with her. Not Kennel Club constructs with in-built, in-bred genetic issues so far removed from true / original type, often bred by repeated doubling up on genetic issues ( Cavalier King Charles Spaniels anyone? Shepherds that now look like banana-dogs and the breeders say is normal? Ridgebacks that, oh yes, only have the ridge because they’ve deliberately kept doubling up lines to create a lion-killing dog, with mild spina bifida. Short life span and a nasty end often. Go figure?! In my younger years, Maggie, just a really a teenager herself at that point, saved me from various dramas and, ironically a near drowning in Cove Brook courtesy of my seriously alcoholic mother and ditto but violent father. she got v wet saving me and THAT people is Maggie, not this bull$T And yes, in this instance and without knowing the full facts, I am pretty sure Maggie did what she thought was right and in an act of desperation. I actually endorse what she did under the circumstances. Two+ pups deformed. Extremely hard to keep apart two adults when the heat is up, impossible to separate once they’ve tied even if you are of good health and mobility, when you’re practically wheel-chair bound with MS and your asshole husband has abandoned you for a piece of skirt in Thailand. Meanwhile vets these days will only humanely destroy animals if they are literally bleeding to death. Not because they think it’s the wrong thing but because they risk this same kind of flack (THANK YOU AGAIN ‘FRVING CANT MICHELLE’) that Maggie has endured. Even before their liability insurance. It’s a horrible end to contemplate, no doubt. But a litter of pups, well fed and sleeping quietly whilst it gets colder and colder; their metabolisms slows and slows and they literally don’t know much about it. I am crying thinking about it, it actually takes a vast amount of strength to do this kind of thing. where I live in South America they just throw the pups in a sack and toss them in the river. If the pups are lucky the crocs eat them before they’ve had even a few minutes to panic and struggle for life. Or they get tossed on the middle of nowhere to starve and panic before the boas bite snd then strangle them to death. Message here people is this. If you honestly believe that Maggie, not the wealthiest person in the world, would instead prefer to sell on half a litter that looked good on paper and wee v pretty merles, but had inherent genetic weaknesses that’d mean a ton of vet bills and more importantly a likelihood of bad health. think again.