CONVICTED (2022) | John Walker, born c. 1952, of 27 Greenhill, Great Harwood, Blackburn BB6 7HW, and daughter Lauran Walker, born c. 1992, of Darkwood Crescent, Chatburn, Clitheroe BB7 4AL – convicted of animal welfare offences in relation to their doggy day care centre, Mucky Pups in Rishton.
Father and daughter John and Lauran Walker were banned from holding animal activity licences for 10 years after pleading guilty to animal welfare charges.
Their prosecution followed the emergence of videos on social media showing John Walker violently abusing a number of dogs at Mucky Pups in December 2019.
One video showed Walker picking a dog up by the scruff of his neck, beating him and throwing him across the floor, while the dog can be heard whimpering and crying.
In another, Walker appeared to hit one dog with a broom, while another video showed him physically smacking a dog with his hand so hard that the connection can be heard on the footage.
Hyndburn Borough Council revoked Mucky Pup’s licence in February 2020, and the RSPCA carried out a full investigation into the abuse.
Following months of adjournments, the Walkers were finally sentenced on Tuesday 11 January 2022 after pleading guilty at an early hearing in August 2021.
Lauran Walker pleaded guilty to failing to take steps to ensure the needs of an animal was met by failing to prevent John Walker using inappropriate force.
John Walker pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to seven dogs by the inappropriate use of physical force, between September 10 2019 and November 19 2019 and failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the needs of the animals were met between August 1 2019 and December 18 2019.
Sentencing:
John Walker – community order with 10 days of rehabilitation activity; 26-week electronic curfew; £290 in costs.
Lauran Walker – five-week curfew; 15 days of rehabilitation activity. £290 in costs and fines.
Both – disqualified from holding a licence to work with animals for a period of 10 years but may apply for a variation or termination of the disqualification after five years.
Several dog owners spoke to the Lancashire Telegraph when the systematic abuse at Mucky Pups came to light.
Vikki Martin and her daughter Bethany Banks, from Clitheroe, took their pugs, Dexter and Otis, there in September 2019. Ms Martin said she removed them after only a few weeks.
Ms Martin said: “We sent them to Mucky Pups around September for about seven or eight days, over a period of about four or five weeks.
“Dexter and Otis are only pups and we had to put a stop to them going because their behaviour changed massively and they became two very different pugs.
“I don’t know if they were ever on the receiving end of any abuse, as I haven’t seen any videos that show this, but since we pulled them out of the centre our lives have been a living hell because of their behaviour.
“Before we sent them, they were so well-behaved and mild-mannered but, after a couple of weeks, we noticed they’d become very, very jumpy, cowering and startled all the time, more so around men and at sudden movements, such as turning the volume on the TV up, or the phone ringing.
“And they bark at the slightest thing now, whereas before they didn’t.”
In one video taken by Miss Devine, a man [John Walker] can be seen in a room full of dogs, with what looks to be a broom or a mop in his hand. The footage appears to show the man hitting an English Bulldog puppy with the broom.
A woman, from Accrington, who did not wish to be named, contacted the Telegraph to say she believes the dog in that video was her dog.
She said: “Myrtle attended Mucky Pups a few days a week from September and, in fairness, she seemed to enjoy it and would get excited at first. She’s only five and a half months old. About three weeks ago, she started cowering every time we were telling her off for something, and would back away into a corner.
“My partner and I went to my dad’s with Myrtle and, at one point, he was stood behind her, normally, and she started to cower and then ran away from him.
“In one of the videos that I saw on Facebook, I saw the man hit Myrtle with a broom. It was definitely her. It made me feel sick.”
Michael MacRae, who lives in Langho, said he took his three-and-a-half-year-old German Shepherd, Charlie, to Mucky Pups between September and October 2019.
Mr MacRae said: “Where we live, Charlie doesn’t get much interaction with other dogs so we put him in Mucky Pups for one day a week in September, to see how he would get on, then for two days a week as he seemed to be enjoying it.
“But after a few times, he didn’t seem to be happy about going and one Tuesday when I picked him up he was a mess.
“I had to lift him into the car and when I was showering him, he could hardly stand up.
“I phoned Lauren [Lauran], the owner of Mucky Pups, the day after and she said maybe he had been playing a bit too roughly with other dogs.
“I didn’t think much of it but he came back another time and started grunting out of his nose and making strange noises, which he’d never done before.”
He took Charlie to the vets, who did tests and a scan which revealed the animal’s insides were inflamed and swollen.
He added: “Charlie is still undergoing treatment at the vets, and so far it’s cost over £2,000.”
Source: Lancashire Telegraph 01/01/2020
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