CONVICTED (2024) | farmer Aeneas Carragher, born c. 1964, of 85 Skerriff Road, Cullyhanna, Newry BT35 0JW, and animal transporter Wayne Smyth, born c. 1988, of Annvale Gardens, Keady, Armagh BT60 2RS – for the callous disregard for the suffering of a dying dairy cow.
Cruel farmer Aeneas Carragher
On Monday, March 11, 2024, Aeneas Carragher was convicted of one charge of causing an animal to be transported that was not fit for the journey. Carragher was fined £500 plus £15 offender levy.
Wayne Smyth was convicted of one charge of transporting an animal that was not fit for the journey. Smyth was fined £500 plus £15 offender levy.
The case arose on February 13, 2023, when a DAERA Official Veterinarian (OV), at an abattoir, examined an animal that was presented by Smyth on behalf of Carragher.
The cow was very thin and shivering. A lairage worker attempted to make the cow walk, but the animal immediately fell in the pen.
The OV carried out an ante-mortem examination of the recumbent cow. The animal was emaciated with prominent transverse and dorsal spinal processes, and the OV estimated that the animal had a body condition score of “1” or less.
The animal was humanely destroyed, where she lay, to avoid any further suffering.
The OV’s professional opinion was that this cow was too thin and weak to have been transported and was caused unnecessary suffering by this action.
CONVICTED (2023) | illegal puppy farmer Patrick Terrence Finn, born April 1983, of 103 Ennislare Road, Armagh BT60 2AX – kept 49 dogs in ‘inadequate, unsuitable and squalid conditions’
Finn was given a total of 80 hours community service for keeping 49 dogs, including 17 puppies, in atrocious conditions.
The local authority, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, described Finn’s shoddy business as “one of the most serious cases of illegal puppy farming and neglect that we have come across”.
The illegal puppy farm operation was exposed in November 2021 when Animal Welfare Officers and Dog Wardens from the council carried out a joint investigation at the defendant’s property.
Inspectors searched a shed and discovered 29 dogs of mixed breeds kept in foul-smelling and filthy conditions with no water or food.
Some were found in pens with heavily soiled bedding while others were kept in pens with bare concrete slabs. There were obvious signs of neglect, with the majority presenting with severely matted hair and overgrown nails.
As the investigation continued, a further three bitches and 17 pups were discovered in a separate poorly-ventilated outbuilding containing heat lamps with no natural light and no food and water. They too were found in appalling conditions, which exposed them to high levels of infectious and parasitic disease.
All dogs were immediately removed from the property after a vet assessed them to be suffering and in need of proper treatment and care. All dogs were subsequently rehomed with loving families.
Finn pleaded guilty to operating a breeding establishment without a licence contrary to Regulation 4 of The Welfare of Animals (Dog Breeding Establishments and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013. He also pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering and failing to ensure the welfare of animals under Sections 4 and 9 of the Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011.
Finn could have faced imprisonment for a period of up to six months and a fine of up to £5,000 for operating a dog breeding establishment without a licence. Instead he was ordered to cover the cost of the dogs’ care in rescue, a sum of £2,560, and was given no jail time.
Speaking after the court ruling, USPCA Chief Executive Nora Smith said: “We have strong custodial legislation available to the courts yet this individual walks away with a slap on the wrist. It is deeply frustrating and concerning.
“We need to give harsher sentences to send out a clear message, that as a society we will not tolerate or stand for animal cruelty enforcement and strong sentences are the only things that will stop and deter individuals who are inflicting the worst levels of animal cruelty.
“This was a case the USPCA had been closely investigating and it was great to see the response from the Council. In order to catch and stop more of these puppy farmers we would ultimately like to see better partnership working between the USPCA and our local Councils.”
A council spokesperson said: “This is one of the most serious cases of illegal puppy farming and neglect that we have come across in this council area to date. Hopefully this case brings into sharp focus the need for the public to work closely with the council to take action to stop animal abuse and combat the cruel trade of puppy farming.
“Anyone who truly loves dogs or animals in general needs to understand that using an unlicensed breeder to purchase a pet is effectively supporting an illegal business, often without any consideration of the welfare and environmental needs of the animals being sold.
Sentencing | 80 hours of community service; total of £2,890 in costs. Disqualified from owning animals for five years (expires July 2028).
CONVICTED (2023) | David Fryers, born c. 1964, of Seagoe Road, Portadown, Craigavon BT63 5HW – for the chronic neglect of two dogs kept in filthy conditions.
One of two neglected dogs found in squalor at the home of alleged paedophile* David Fryers.
David Fryers, aka Robert Fryers, was fined and given a one-year ban after the unnamed dogs were found at his home in a neglected state and living in filth.
Fryers was investigated by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council in November 2020 after they received a complaint about the welfare of his two dogs.
A council Animal Welfare Officer (AWO) visited Fryers’ home on several occasions and also wrote to him, but he failed to make contact.
The AWO therefore obtained a warrant and, accompanied by police officers and a vet, forced entry to the property.
The two dogs were found in the kitchen in extremely poor and filthy conditions. The floor was soiled and there was an overpowering smell of dog faeces and urine throughout the property.
The outdoor area was littered with faecal matter and a pile of wood with exposed nails was considered to pose a risk of injury to both animals.
Veterinary examination showed that both dogs had overgrown and unkempt coats, skin lesions and overgrown nails indicating chronic neglect and lack of exercise.
They were taken into council care and successfully rehomed in October 2021.
In court, Fryers pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering and failing to ensure the welfare of two dogs in his care.
Sentencing | fined £200 and ordered to pay a further £157 in legal and court fees including a £15 offender’s levy. ONE-year ban (expires February 2024).
CONVICTED (2023) | Cherry Nesbitt (née Cherry McGaughey), born 8 September (tbc), of Orangefield Crescent, Armagh BT60 1DS – sold an emaciated pony so unwell he had to be immediately euthanised.
Nesbitt, a mother-of-three, was found guilty in her absence of causing unnecessary suffering to the unnamed white pony.
The pony was kept by Nesbitt at Barkston Livery Yard in Cloghramer Road, Newry, but became unwell. Nesbitt failed to provide the animal with veterinary care and sold him to a new owner.
When the new owner went to collect the pony they found him to be severely emaciated and unable to stand. A vet attended and euthanised the pony on welfare grounds.
The court heard that Nesbitt provided the animal with over the counter medication some months earlier, but failed to have him assessed by a vet when he became poorly. Furthermore, she refused to co-operate with investigations by the local authority’s Animal Welfare officer.
Sentencing | ordered to pay a total of £567.00 in fine, costs and surcharge. Two-year disqualification order (expires February 2025).
CONVICTED (2022) | violent ‘gangster’ Jamie Gallogly, born c. 1994, of Main Street, Belleeks, Newry BT35 7PH – kept seven starving dogs in squalor.
Serial animal abuser Gallogly, who is a known associate of an ultra-violent organised crime gang led by the Dublin-based Shebani brothers, was found guilty of one animal welfare offence.
The case was brought by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council after its animal welfare department received a complaint concerning the welfare of dogs at Cortamlat Road, Newtownhamilton, Newry.
The dogs’ living accommodation was described as “extremely unhygienic”.
Outside pens were covered in faecal matter and urine. No clean or dry bedding and no fresh food or water were available.
The inside of the property was also heavily contaminated with dog faeces and urine resulting in a strong, heavy smell of urine throughout.
The officer said the chewing of doors and furniture indicated signs of the animals’ prolonged stress and presented ingestion hazards.
A vet assessed the environment and determined the dogs were suffering. They were therefore removed from the property by the animal welfare officers.
The court was also told Gallogly had been the subject of previous animal welfare investigations and repeatedly failed to provide and maintain a clean and safe environment for the animals.
Sentencing | ordered to pay a fine of £350 and costs totalling £7,072. Disqualified from keeping animals for five years (expires October 2027).
CONVICTED (2022) | domestic abuser, heroin user/dealer and lifelong criminal Dwayne Michael Mullan, born c. 1987, of Dingwell Park, Lurgan but with links to Dungannon and Belfast – stole a woman’s dogs to pay off a drug debt.
The Court heard that on December 12, 2020, police received a report from a third party claiming that she could hear windows smashing.
On arrival, police identified an injured party in an “intoxicated state”, who told them that Mullan had threatened to steal her dog earlier in the day as a result of a drug debt which he claimed she owed.
She claimed that the defendant had left but returned later with three other people and entered her property without her permission.
Mullan stated that he was taking her TV “in order to pay off the debt”, but he would leave the dogs. Another male carried the TV out of the house.
The injured party then said she left her property and went to a house next door. A short time later she heard the dogs barking and went home to find they had been taken from her back garden.
She was told that two men and two women were seen “carrying the dogs out of her back garden and placed into the back of a jeep.”
The person who witnessed this occurring refused to provide a statement, the Court heard.
The injured party provided a statement on December 18, claiming that she had “traced the sale” of one of her dogs on social media and the man who bought the dog “willingly returned it”. She refused to provide his details but said the man had been sold the dog by the defendant.
She was thereafter informed that the defendant had been texting one of her friends “who had offered to sell one of the dogs for him”, but wouldn’t provide details of this to police.
Police then found the defendant outside an address with another male, where they arrested him.
District Judge Bernie Kelly questioned whether the two dogs had been returned to their owner, “unharmed I trust,” she added, to which the defence counsel, Fintan McAleer BL, confirmed that was the case.
Judge Kelly added: “You have no idea the stress that the animals were put under in the process of being physically removed from what would be their home.”
The defence however, responded, “the charge is a handling charge as opposed to being responsible for removing them from the property,” to which Judge Kelly replied: “If there were no handlers, there’d be no thieves.”
Defence added that there was “substantial hearsay” involved in the incident and that the witness “wouldn’t be considered particularly reliable.”
He added that the defendant had “accepted his involvement” at an early opportunity and that “the police don’t recall or record anything in their statements in terms of any obvious ailments or suffering from the dogs,” adding that they were “well treated”.
Before passing the sentence, the judge commented: “This is a particularly offensive crime, to pick on animals who can’t defend themselves. These are live creatures and to take them as some sort of object is particularly heinous.”
CONVICTED (2022) | Lisa Glendinning, born 23 February 1984, of 13 Marlborough Park, Lurgan, Craigavon BT66 8NL – kept 15 dogs, three fish and a bird in ‘squalid’ conditions.
Among the 15 dogs at Lisa Glendinning’s filthy property were three fish and a bird, as well as the decaying carcass of another bird.
Glendinning was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering and failing to ensure the welfare of animals under Section 4 “Unnecessary Suffering” and Section 9 “Ensuring welfare of animals” of the Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011.
A complaint was received in October 2020 in relation to animals being kept by Glendinning at a property in Russell Drive, Lurgan.
An Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Animal Welfare Officer visited the property on several occasions leaving a No Access Card to which no response was received.
On November 11, 2020 the Animal Welfare Officer gained access to the property upon execution of warrant and found multiple animals kept in squalid unhygienic conditions.
A total of 15 dogs, 3 fish and a bird were removed from the property following assessment of a vet who determined the animals as suffering. The decaying carcass of a bird was found within a bird cage.
Almost all of the dogs had matted coats and a number required dental treatments.
Glendinning made no effort to engage with the Animal Welfare Officer and failed to attend a formal interview in relation to the matter.
Sentencing | six-month custodial sentence relating to the Section 4 offence and a three-month custodial sentence relating to the Section 9 offence. The custodial sentences will run concurrently and are suspended for two years. 10-year disqualification order.
CONVICTED (2022) | Martin Henry, born c. 1954, son Mark Henry, born 5 November 1991, and daughter Hannah Henry, born c. 1994, all of 125 Legahory Court, Craigavon BT65 5DF – starved and neglected five dogs.
The Henrys pleaded guilty to several counts of animal cruelty and failing to ensure the needs of five dogs were met.
The court heard the family home was covered in animal excrement and there was no food or water available for their pets.
Hannah Henry was the owner of two shih tzus, an akita and a jack russell.
The two shih tzus both had a body score of one – which means they were severely underweight.
The akita had been kept on an eight-foot-long chain in a pen in the garden – a pen that was too small for the animal to lie down in and was not watertight.
There was no bedding or drinking water. Excrement littered the floor of the pen.
He too was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
He was found to have breached a disqualification order.
Their father, Martin Henry also entered guilty pleas to causing the Jack Russell and two shih tzus unnecessary suffering and failing to meet their needs.
None of the animals had access to water or food. They had never been taken to a vet or groomer or had their nails clipped.
The judge described the charges as a “litany of the most horrible acts a human being can carry out” and said it was “beyond contemplation” that it had been allowed to happen.
Sentencing | Hannah Henry: two-year probation order. Mark Henry: 200 hours of community service; three-month suspended prison sentence for breaching his banning order. Both were ordered to pay £130 court costs and were barred from keeping animals for 10 years.
Martin Henry was found guilty of animal welfare offences in relation to five dogs kept in extremely poor environmental conditions and with no access to fresh water or food.
All of the dogs were voluntarily signed over to the Animal Welfare Service, including a Jack Russell-type dog owned by son, serial animal abuser Mark Henry.
In March 2016 Mark Henry was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to ponies in his care. He was prosecuted by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, when a concerned member of the public reported seemingly abandoned ponies on land at Burnside.
Vets found one young, extremely thin pony lying on his side in a distressed state. The pony was put to sleep to prevent any further suffering.
The two other ponies were tethered in such a way that they had no access to suitable food or water and they were seized and removed.
Henry was fined £600 and was banned from keeping animals for ten years, with costs awarded to the council of £1,950 along with £17 court fees.
CONVICTED (2021) | Roland William Herron, born 28 January 1981 of 77 Jervis Street, Portadown, Craigavon BT62 3HD – for cruelty to two dogs, one of whom had to be put to sleep on humane grounds.
Herron pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering and failing to ensure the welfare of animals under Section 4 and 9 of the Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011.
On June 13, 2019, the local authority received a report of concern about the welfare of a dog.
On arrival at the defendant’s property, the council’s Animal Welfare Officer witnessed one dog standing in the yard, very unsteady on her feet – which were bleeding – and another dog lying in a concrete shed and struggling to stand.
Both dogs were immediately taken to a local vet for examination and subsequently one dog was removed into the care of the council and the other, under the instruction of the vet, was euthanised.
Sentencing: ordered to pay a total of £765.00 in fines and £780.00 costs . Banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2021) | Raquelle Vanessa Lyons, born 5 January 1991, of 7 Third Avenue, Newry BT35 6HD – for neglecting three dogs and a cat.
Lyons pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the welfare needs of a tabby cat and three Jack Russell dogs were being met.
A case was brought against Lyons by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council following a complaint received in July 2019 in relation to the welfare of dogs being kept at the location. The property was visited on July 4, 2019.
Raquelle Lyons neglected this cat as well as three dogs. All of the pets have recovered and been rehomed.
Despite numerous visits and several letters being sent to Lyons the officer was unable to gain access until August 29.
The animal welfare officer observed that the animals were being kept in poor conditions and requested a vet attend the location.
After conducting an assessment of the property, a vet determined the animals should be seized and taken into the possession of the council.
An application was made to Newry Magistrates Courts on October 2, 2019 to have the cat and three Jack Russell dogs rehomed and this was granted.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council issued proceedings under the provisions of the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.
Sentencing: ordered to pay a fine of £150 and costs of £237. She was banned from keeping animals for just three years (expires September 2024).
