CONVICTED (2013) | Tracey Cliffe (aka Tracey Chubbs), born 04/11/1982, of Shale Street, Burnley BB12 0PR – left a family of Rottweilers to starve to death
Neglect by Tracey Cliffe left only three survivors from a family of two adult Rottweilers and four puppies.
The tragic scene was discovered by RSPCA inspector Charlotte Booker on a visit to Cliffe’s address on Eldon Street, Bury.
David McCormick, prosecuting, said: “She saw a large amount of rubbish in one corner and there was faeces all over the yard. She saw a dead rottweiler in the yard, all its bones were visible and it was emaciated. Curled up in a ball next to it was a live rottweiler which was emaciated.
“It was depressed and did not react when the officer shouted. Both were lying on a pile of rubbish.”
When the inspector called police to get inside, they found a kitchen covered in filth and excrement. A dead puppy wrapped in newspaper had been left on the worktop. Three puppies – believed to have been born to the surviving adult who was too weak to feed them – were in a crate lined with damp newspaper on the floor. Cliffe said another puppy had been eaten by the starving male adult.
A vet found that the dead dog, a three-year-old called Kaiser, had died from malnutrition, weighing just 18.6kg – less than half the expected 45kg.
The second dog, a bitch called Jez, was also malnourished with ribs, pelvic bones and spine clearly visible through her skin.
The surviving puppies weighed as little as 4kg. One had to be put down by RSPCA officers.
Cliffe was found guilty of four animal neglect offences in her absence.
After just five weeks in RSPCA care Jez put on 10kg. Very happily she and the two surviving pups went to new homes.
Sentencing: 20-week suspended prison sentence. Disqualified from keeping all animals for life.
CONVICTED (2011) | Jeffrey Johnson aka JJ Johnson, born c. 1977, of 37 Forfar Street, Burnley BB11 4ER – convicted of hunting badgers with dogs.
Jeff ‘JJ’ Johnson with Leanne ‘LB’ Buck/Johnson
Johnson told the court that he had been digging close to a badger sett in Altham because his terrier had got trapped after chasing a rabbit down a hole. He denied having any interest in badgers but was convicted after a trial.
Johnson, a part-time window cleaner and father of three, was seen stood in a three foot deep hole with a spade in his hand by a badger enthusiast.
The enthusiast challenged Johnson and another man as to what they were doing and Johnson said something about digging for a fox.
He said they then ran off before the police arrived.
Johnson told the court he was walking his dogs, the terrier and a lurcher, in the area and they had been chasing rabbits. He said the dogs ran off and he found the lurcher near the entrance to what he now knew to be the badger sett.
Johnson could hear his dog crying underground and when she did not respond to his calls decided to go home for a spade so he could try and dig her out. He said he blocked the entrance to the sett so the dog would not get out and run away in his absence.
Johnson said he came back with a friend and while he was digging the dog emerged from the sett and his friend caught her.
Magistrates did not believe his version of events, however. Finding him guilty they fined him £270 and ordered him to pay £265 in costs.
CONVICTED (2010) | internet animal trader Linda Winter (aka Linda Jayne Leaf), born c. 1969, of Wycoller Avenue, Burnley BB10 4LF – kept dogs, cats and guinea pigs in freezing and filthy conditions in a series of stables and a caravan
Linda / Lynda Winter aka Linda Leaf pictured outside court in 2010, and one of the dogs rescued from the miserable conditions in which she kept them
An investigation was launched into the activities of puppy and horse trader Linda Winter by the RSPCA after police found a variety of animals in squalid conditions at a freezing-cold farm near Lennox Street, Worsthorne.
Several dogs, cats and guinea pigs were found in caravans and a nearby stable block by officers, who were conducting a stakeout as part of an unrelated criminal operation, and the RSPCA was alerted.
The conditions in the caravan were said to be filthy and often the animals had not been given adequate food or water despite the temperature barely being above zero degrees centigrade.
Two rabbits and a guinea pig, left in cages by Winter at the Lennox Street paddock, were found to be dead by police.
2019 social media photo of Linda Winter
Vet Peter O’Hagen was called in to examine the animals and they were removed at the RSPCA’s request.
RSPCA inspector Jason Bowles and Mr O’Hagen also made a video of the caravan and stables noting that, at the time, New Year’s Day, the temperature was zero degrees centigrade.
Mr Bowles told the court said there was a strong smell of urine in the dirty caravan and he could see no food or water left for a Rottweiler puppy and a small Border terrier he found inside.
He then moved to a stable block, where he found the dead rabbits and guinea pig, and a cage containing three cats, which had apparently been left with dry food but no water. The litter tray was full and the cats were sitting in their own filth.
The next stable inspected had three dogs, two Bedlington terriers and a small black spaniel, the court heard.
Mr Bowles said no water had been left for the dogs. The terriers’ coats were matted and the spaniel’s was ‘dirty’.
Finally two Sharpei dogs, with bad skin conditions, were discovered in a third stable.
These dogs had been left water but it had frozen because of the conditions.
Winter, who advertises puppies for sale on the internet, was questioned by PC Mark Jenkinson when she arrived at the scene.
She was alleged to have told PC Jenkinson that the animals at the compound were hers and she was looking after them “because no-one else would”.
Winter was questioned about the discovery and later charged with 18 offences of failing to provide adequate care and diets for 13 animals found by the authorities.
She denied the charges during a two-day trial but was convicted of all the offences.
In her defence, Winter said her car had been impounded and she was unable to attend to care for the animals daily. Her daughter and a family friend had been given the responsibility instead and had not done a good job.
Magistrates banned Winter from keeping dogs and all other animals for six years and to pay costs to the RSPCA of £260.
The court heard that the disqualification may prove difficult to enforce as his client’s 17-year-old daughter had pets of her own.
But the bench told Winter she must make provisions to ensure she complied with the ban or face further court action.
The trial was told that Winter’s details had been found on various trading websites, advertising puppies and ponies for sale.
Following the case RSPCA inspector Jason Bowles, who investigated Winter, said: “She left these animals to live in freezing and squalid conditions and some suffered and others died as a result.
“She was caught out though as the result of a joint operation between the RSPCA and Burnley Police.
“I would like to make a plea to people to be aware when you are buying an animal, without researching its history properly, then you could be funding misery for more animals in future.”
Sentencing: costs of £260. Six-year ban on keeping animals (expired 2016).
