CONVICTED (2017) | illegal puppy farmer Jamie Parvizi (aka Jamie Finnegan), born 05/06/1979 of Stone Chair Lane, Scholar Green, Stoke on Trent ST7 3JJ – sold dying dogs to unsuspecting families
Parvizi, who traded under the name ‘Tinypom’, pretended he was selling healthy pure bred Pomeranians when families inquired about dogs.
But the pets – which he kept locked in the downstairs toilet – would fall ill shortly afterwards, forcing buyers to shell out thousands in vets’ bills simply to keep the animals alive.
One victim told the court how she bought a £750 puppy for her six-year-old twin daughters.
She stumped up more than £5,000 in vet fees to try to save the animal which died after being diagnosed with parvovirus.
Parvizi admitted 13 charges of fraud over a two-year period. He also admitted seven charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals and one of failing to take reasonable steps to ensure animals were properly cared for.
Sentencing him at Stoke Crown Court, Judge Simon Berkson said it had been a ‘sophisticated fraud’.
‘You were misleading the public as to the health and welfare of the pups you were selling,’ he said. ‘Your job was to make sure the pups were sold and get some money.
‘The victims lost money and their pet. The animals suffered.
‘The fraud was sophisticated. There was significant planning. It went on over a sustained period. There was a large number of victims.’
The court was told how someone ‘higher up the chain’ in the scam placed adverts in newspapers and online to attract buyers, who then contacted Parvizi.
Prosecutor Hazel Stevens said: ‘He presented them with paperwork and he made them believe they were bred by him.
‘Nobody knows the origin and type of these dogs. There is no paperwork to be sure where they came from.’
Ms Stevens added that ten puppies were removed from Parvizi’s home when the police and RSPCA executed a warrant.
They have since been cared for by the RSPCA, although one has died.
Isobel Thomas, defending, said Parvizi works at Tesco and that he had racked up £27,000 of debts. He and his wife had also lost their dogs.
RSPCA Acting Chief Inspector Jayne Bashford said they were alerted to the scam after receiving a ‘flurry’ of calls from upset customers.
‘From our early enquiries we established that lots of money was exchanging hands and people who were unknowingly buying sick dogs were stuck with huge vet bills,’ she said.
‘The investigation led us to Parvizi’s property in Scholar Green and when we went in with police we rescued ten Pomeranians from the address.
‘We found two adults – a male and a female – shut in a downstairs toilet and a number of puppies were being kept in the house. Some were being kept in purpose-built pods in the garden and some smaller, young pups were inside.
‘One of the puppies was collapsed and was severely lethargic, and some of the others were in poor condition with discharge from the eyes and nose.’
She added: ‘The sentence reflects the severity and level of cruelty. We hope it sends out a strong message.
‘Puppy farming is a trade which is rife across the UK and one the RSPCA is working very hard to combat.’
Sentencing: jailed for 33 months and banned from keeping animals for life.
Additional Information
it took several years for the authorities to build a case against Jamie Parvizi and Hayley Potts. In October 2014 a Facebook user took to private FB group set up for victims of the pair’s greed Justice for George to warn others about theirs activities. She wrote:
BEWARE DO NOT PURCHASE PUPPIES FROM THIS PUPPY MILL: JAMIE PARVIZI AND HAYLEY POTTS LIVING IN STOKE ON TRENT!
Just had a call from the RSPCA, and this thing is bigger than any of us had ever imagined. The puppies are being shipped from southern Ireland, where 900 bitches are routinely impregnated in what’s probably the biggest puppy mill in the world right now.
These puppies are then shipped through multiple illegal routes into the UK and probably USA, to be sold to unsuspecting people like us.
Parvizi alone has received 49 complaints to the RSPCA regarding puppies which have died or are sick. Clearly this is the tip of the iceberg.I was told that my puppy Teddie would have spend his first 6 weeks in complete darkness without his mother, living in his own faeces! No wonder he has issues.
The RSPCA are fighting a legal battle to get the EIRE authorities engaged but they seem reluctant. Therefore the RSPCA have asked to take all reasonable measures to shame Parvizi and Potts, and asked me to make this group pubic.
I would like your agreement to do so.
I would like also to start an online petition to pressurise the Irish government to take action and close down this disgusting operation.
With your much support, we can make this stop!
Please comment below your thoughts, as we have to do this together, and quickly. Every week they ship around 500 puppies to the UK alone!
This data has come directly to me from the RSPCA!