Huddersfield, West Yorkshire: Mohammed Abbas

CONVICTED (2024) | Mohammed Abbas, born c. 1979, of Holly Road, Thornton Lodge, Huddersfield HD1 3SE – kept injured cockerels in poor conditions.

RSPCA prosecution of Mohammed Abbas from Huddersfield, who allowed cockerels to fight and failed to treat their injuries.
Abbas, who denied keeping the cockerels for organised fights, left the birds to suffer with untreated severe injuries.

Abbas failed failed to seek veterinary care for six cockerels who were found with injuries to their wings and feet. He left the birds with untreated lesions and bruising and said the animals had not seen a vet for two years.

Abbas pleaded guilty to one offence contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 following an investigation and prosecution brought by the RSPCA.

RSPCA Inspector Demi Hodby had visited a plot of land next to a garage in Bulay Road, Thornton Lodge, Huddersfield, on June 21, 2023, after receiving a report of concern about the birds’ welfare.

RSPCA prosecution of Mohammed Abbas from Huddersfield, who allowed cockerels to fight and failed to treat their injuries.

The inspector described how the six cockerels – who were living in several purpose-built wooden pens on the land – had red skin, missing feathers and injuries to their wings and feet.

“Mr Abbas confirmed they were his birds and that none of them were currently under vet treatment but he stated they were registered at a vets in Huddersfield,” said the inspector.

“He explained they had not been to the vets for two years. I expressed my concerns for the welfare of the cockerels and advised that I would like to get a vet to assess them.

“He advised that the birds were not used for fighting and were in ‘moult’.

He showed me some spray in a yellow bottle which he said he used for feather loss and that there was nothing wrong with the birds.”

Abbas gave the inspector permission for the cockerels to be taken for a veterinary examination.

The vet who saw them said four of the group were underweight and all six were in a suffering condition. They were subsequently seized by the police and placed into the care of the RSPCA.

In his written evidence to the court the vet said: “In all of these birds, the areas of feather loss were in areas commonly associated with feather picking and bullying, especially the cloacal area where serious trauma can be inflicted from other birds, as was the case for one of the birds.

“The open skin lesions present on two of them may also be from pecking and/or in fighting.”

The vet added: “A responsible owner would not allow bullying in the first place and the cockerels should have been separated.

“A responsible owner would also have identified open wounds and parasite burdens and treated them and the group appropriately.”

When interviewed by the RSPCA about what had happened to the birds, Abbas declined to comment.

The cockerels, who he refused to sign over during the course of the investigation, have been looked after at a private boarding facility on behalf of the RSPCA. They can now be rehomed after a deprivation order was also imposed by the court.

Sentencing | 12 month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work for the animal welfare offence and a further 150 hours of unpaid work for breaching the terms of a suspended sentence order. Costs of £150 and a victim surcharge of £114. Disqualified from keeping caged or crated birds for six years (expires July 2030).

YorkshireLive

Leave a Reply