CONVICTED (2019) | notorious puppy farmer and serial animal abuser Marcia Jones (aka Marcia Hollins-Jones), born 16/04/1944, of The Old Crem, Sleap, Shrewsbury SY4 3HE – for appalling neglect of breeding dogs and puppies
Marcia Jones was said to have shown “no remorse” after mistreating the animals at her puppy-selling business at the Old Crematorium in Sleap, around nine miles north of Shrewsbury.
Puppy farmer Marcia Jones treated Jack Russell-Terrier cross Pippa’s exposed bone and infected leg with Calpol
Jones pleaded guilty to four animal welfare offences after the RSPCA visited the farm and found dogs with severe bite wounds, cold concrete kennels with urine-soaked carpets and a Jack Russell-Terrier cross with an injury that left her leg bone exposed.
Inspectors found more than 70 dogs at the site when they visited.
Pippa was put to sleep when she was eventually seen by a vet
Pippa, the dog with the exposed bone, was treated with children’s medicine Calpol instead of being taken to a vet. Once she was eventually seen by a vet she was suffering so much she had to be put down.
The court was told that Jones lived in a static caravan on the site and had a licence from Shropshire Council to breed dogs.
The RSPCA investigated her business after concerns were raised by her vet, who had examined three dogs ones presented between August 2017 and May 2018.
The vet believed some of the animals had been injured in fights and had been left to suffer for days.
The RSPCA investigator found 38 adult dogs and 35 puppies at risk.
Inspector Kate Parker said: “The puppies in what Hollins-Jones described to me as ‘the maternity wing’ were particularly at risk in such a cold and damp environment with no heat lamps as required by law.
“There was a prolific failure by her towards animal welfare. She was breeding the dogs for money and that was her key motivation – she has also shown no remorse for her actions.
“In the sad case of Pippa, she was left for at least two days without veterinary treatment. Instead Hollins-Jones decided to give her Calpol.
“She would have clearly suffered from such an awful injury.”
As well as Pippa, Jones was convicted of mistreating two miniature dachshunds named Dexter and Fat Pud’s Pup who both had “severe” bite wounds, including to the latter dog’s eye.
Both dogs have since recovered.
The court was also told Jones has been prosecuted in the past by the RSPCA and in 2001 received a 10-year disqualification order for all animals. Her earlier conviction was in relation to dying and emaciated horses as well as a Jack Russell with an untreated broken leg, which had to be amputated.
In 2005 the BBC’s Inside Out current affairs series showed Jones was still dealing in puppies in a flagrant breach of her ban.
Sentencing:
Ordered to pay £1,600 costs, fined £1,400 and ordered to pay a £40 victim surcharge. Banned from keeping animals for three years (expired January 2022), but the ban has been suspended for 28 days while she re-homes the animals she already owns. She was also banned from applying for a breeding licence for 10 years.
Whitchurch Herald
Whitchurch Herald
Update August 2018
Shropshire Live reports that Marcia Hollins-Jones has breached her ban for a second time.
The court heard that Hollins-Jones breached the ban on 7 February 2019 by selling a Doberman dog called Missy – two weeks after she was given the ban on dealing in dogs on 21 January, for four animal welfare offences.
Magistrates gave Hollins-Jones an eight-week curfew order with the condition that she must remain at home between 9pm and 7am. She was also ordered to pay £400 costs and a £85 victim surcharge. The 10-year disqualification order on dealing dogs will remain in place.