CONVICTED (2024) | Collette Carre, born c. 1966, of Acacia Grove, March PE15 8HY – failed to treat a greyhound gravely ill with a 14cm tumour that covered her snout and muzzle.
Cruel and vile Collette Carre said that financial difficulties and mental health problems prevented her from taking her dying dog to a vet
Carre pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the female greyhound type dog called Defa by failing to seek prompt veterinary care for the grapefruit-sized tumorous mass on her snout/muzzle, as well as weight loss and her poor bodily condition.
The RSPCA was alerted after Carre attended a veterinary practice to have the dog put to sleep.
Carre turned a blind eye to the suffering of emaciated Defa who had a huge tumour on her snout
A vet who examined Defa said in a statement that she was emaciated and had a large putrefying and necrosing tumour over her upper jaw obliterating the nostrils and there was an overpowering smell of rotting flesh and purulent discharge.
This would affect the dog’s ability to eat, drink and pant.
The examination found that she was dehydrated and hungry but was unable to eat and drink. The vet said the tumour would have been incredibly painful and estimated that she had been left to suffer for at least two months.
RSPCA Inspector Jon Knight said after the case: “We as pet owners have a responsibility to do the right thing for our animals – sadly this was not the case for poor Defa.
“It would not take any medical or veterinary expertise to see Defa was suffering and should have been taken to a vet sooner.”
In mitigation, the defendant said it was a result of mental health issues and financial difficulties.
Sentencing | 15-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months; community order with mental health treatment requirement and rehabilitation activity; £187 victim surcharge. Lifetime ban on keeping all animals.
CONVICTED (2023) | serial hare courser Fred Holmes, born c. 1963, of Eye View Travellers Site, Thorney Road, Eye, Peterborough PE6 7UA – for trespassing on private land and using dogs to chase and kill hares in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.
Traveller Fred Holmes was fined nearly £20k after being caught in Lincolnshire using dogs to kill hares
Following a report of hare coursing in Low Road, Crowland, on November 13, 2022, officers from Lincolnshire Police’s Rural Crime Action Team attended and located Fred Holmes, who appeared to be equipped with dogs on the land.
Holmes was subsequently charged with trespass in pursuit of hare and going equipped for trespass.
Northamptonshire Police joined the investigation as he was also suspected of hare coursing in Warmington on October 23, 2022.
Holmes was already subject to a community protection notice in Northamptonshire after committing similar offences previously, and his three lurcher-type dogs were seized alongside his mobile phone.
The joint force investigation resulted in Holmes being charged with two counts of trespass in pursuit of game, and two counts of being equipped to trespass in pursuit of hares.
Despite initially denying the Northamptonshire offences, at Boston Magistrates’ Court on November 10, 2023, he entered guilty pleas to all four counts.
Sentencing | ordered to pay £16,783.50 for the kennel costs of keeping the three dogs since their seizure, as well as fines for the two trespass offences and two victim surcharges, making a total of £18,557.50. Three-year criminal behaviour order which prevents him from entering any private land in Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire or Cambridgeshire with a sighthound, greyhound, long dog or lurcher type dog or cross breed, or being in the company of anyone with this kind of dog on private land, during the recognised hare coursing season (July 31 – April 30). Deprivation order for three dogs; forfeiture of thermal imaging equipment and a Citroen car. Banned from keeping dogs for 10 years (expires November 2033).
CONVICTED (2023) | hare coursing gang members Nelson Loveridge, born c. 1985, of 3 Maltmas Road, Friday Bridge, Wisbech PE14 9HR, Danny Rainford, born c. 1990, of Seadyke Caravan Park, Seadyke Road, Wisbech St Mary, Wisbech PE13 4XF, Stacey Smith, born c. 1984, of Baulkins Drove, Sutton St James, Spalding PE12 0JU and Terry Smith, born c. 1983, of Oxney Road, Peterborough PE1
Hare coursers Stacey Smith, Terry Smith, Danny Rainford, Nelson Loveridge
Travellers Nelson Loveridge, Stacey Smith, Danny Rainford and Terry Smith, who are all well known to police, pleaded guilty to being equipped for hare coursing.
All four men, who are “landscape gardeners” by trade, had previous convictions for poaching.
They were arrested by Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime officers following a short pursuit for hare coursing in the Eastern Road area of Spalding on 9 November, 2022.
Police had been called to a suspected hare coursing incident nearby. A grey Volkswagen vehicle – which was not insured, had no MOT and was not registered to anyone – made off when officers arrived.
It was later found abandoned in Flag Lane, Whaplode Drove, alongside a number of recently-killed hares, said prosecutor Kate Minihane.
A dog handler traced the men nearby.
“A download from Terry Smith’s phone showed a hare coursing incident on the day of arrest but it couldn’t be pinpointed where that happened,” said the prosecutor.
“Three dogs were kept by police in kennels at large expense to the public purse.”
They belonged to Loveridge, Rainford and Stacey Smith. All of the dogs had been forfeited and rehomed since. A fourth dog was seized but no one accepted ownership.
Sentencing | four months’ imprisonment suspended for 24 months; a five-year criminal behaviour order not to enter Lincolnshire during the hare coursing season and be on land with a sight hound or be in company with any person with such a dog without permission. Six-month driving disqualification. all items used in connection with the offence have been forfeited, including their vehicle and their dogs. Stacy Smith, Nelson Loveridge and Danny Rainford have been required to pay £3,586 to recover the kennelling costs. They have also each received fines of £239. Disqualified from keeping dogs for five years (expires July 2028).
CONVICTED (2023) | Matthew Stuart Stark aka Matthew Pinfold or Matt Ilett, born March 1981, from Peterborough – killed his partner’s two dogs during a relationship that left his victim ‘living in fear’.
Stark poisoned and strangled German Spitzes Ronnie and Tiki while his partner was out at work.
Ronnie and Tiki
She realised something was wrong when she came home that evening and the animals weren’t waiting at the door to greet her. She found her pets in their beds and covered in faeces.
The dogs were rushed to the vets but nothing could be done to save them and they died as a result of their injuries.
Veterinary reports suggested that the dogs could have been poisoned and there was bruising around the chest and neck of the animals.
CONVICTED (2022) | grand prix dressage rider and horse breeder/trader Sam Duckworth, born July 1980, director of Five Star Stud Ltd, 589 Newmarket Road, Ditton Fields, Cambridge CB5 8PA – convicted of multiple counts of cruelty in relation to five young horses.
Grand prix dressage rider Sam Duckworth was jailed and banned from keeping all animals for life after showing a “cavalier” attitude to animal welfare.
Duckworth was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to the three fillies and two colts by failing to investigate and address the cause of their poor body condition and weight loss, and for failing to take steps to meet their needs. He was also found guilty of failing to provide an adequate parasite control plan, required farriery and a suitable diet, and failing to seek veterinary attention in respect of the animals’ poor condition.
The charges applied from December 2020 to January 2021, when the horses were seized by the RSPCA from a site in the village of Wichenford, Worcestershire.
Prosecutor Sara Pratt said that of the five horses, one was owned by Duckworth while the others were entrusted to his care. Sadly, one of the seized horses died in RSPCA care, having become unwell.
Ms Pratt said: “The prosecutions says Mr Duckworth ignored warnings and professional advice given to him.
“He was dismissive of the RSPCA and the advice he was given by RSPCA vets and his own. We find he failed properly to follow advice on feed and worming.”
Ms Pratt said Duckworth also ignored warnings about the horses’ welfare from the provider of the premises where the horses were kept, Melvin Sanders, and part-time employee Lauren Ball.
District judge Ian Strongman said that Mr Sanders was “put upon” by Duckworth to care for the horses.
“[Mr Sanders] did so because he felt for the animals and didn’t want to see them without,” Mr Strongman said.
He added that Ms Ball was highly experienced but only employed for an hour each day, “but she did an awful lot of extra work because she was concerned for the horses’ welfare, and ignored instructions from Mr Duckworth about feeding them,”
Mr Strongman said. “She felt they needed more feed, and but for her, the animals could have been in a worse condition.”
The court heard the horses’ body condition scores were one at 0.5 on the 0-5 scale, three at one and one at 1.5.
Ms Pratt said that Duckworth “displayed what might be called a cavalier attitude to these horses in his care and failed to follow advice given by professionals. ”
She added that his behaviour appeared to be “bordering on arrogance, of knowing better than anyone, so we feel this likely to extend to other animals in his care. He’s simply unable to see his own failings or follow advice.
She concluded: “According to him, he had the financial means to look after the horses but simply chose not to.”
Duckworth’s lawyer, Stuart Jessop, argued that the case was serious but not as serious as many that come before court and that his client was “a man of good character” .
He said his client’s neglect of the horses was not prolonged and there was evidence of “ample hay, bedding and feed”.
He conceded that Duckworth “didn’t attend much” but said this was during Covid, which limited his ability to be on the premises.
Jessop said Duckworth’s only income was less than £1,000 per month from his parents, but Mr Strongman rejected this. He said: “I understand … he had about 100 horses and breeding 60-80 foals a year, which he presumably sells. I find him an unreliable witness and I don’t think anything he could say would change my mind.”
There was dispute over the ownership of the horses but Mr Strongman said that as he had not seen sufficient evidence to suggest otherwise, he ruled that all belonged to Duckworth so a deprivation order was made on them.
Jailing Duckworth, Mr Strongman said: “It’s one of those cases where appropriate punishment can only be achieved with an immediate custodial sentence.”
Speaking about the case, RSPCA inspector and equine officer Suzi Smith said: “As an experienced horsewoman, it is very difficult for me to see any horses in such poor condition, especially for these youngsters who have been given such a poor start in life, when they should have been receiving professional care.
“It is always frustrating when a horse owner does not follow veterinary advice. It’s unacceptable for anyone to cause an animal to suffer, and particularly someone who is responsible for animals in a professional capacity.”
Sentencing | immediate 18-week prison sentence; ordered to pay £68,860 in costs, including the care of the horses since the seizure. Banned from keeping all animals for life and cannot apply to reverse this for five years.
In 2019, Mary Howe put herself forward as a fosterer to NDMR following which Belgian Malinois Buddy and Monty were placed into her care on a temporary basis. A foster agreement was in place which stipulated that the dogs must not be rehomed without NDMR’s consent. After Howe fell out with NDMR she refused to return the dogs and set up her own company, Mars & Minerva Malinois Rehoming Ltd (M&M).
In April 2021, NDMR received information that M&M were renting kennel space in Bluntisham, Cambridgeshire with concerns expressed about the poor conditions. Jessica and two others decided to visit the kennels, which were described as “run-down” On arrival, they found Monty and Buddy in a weak and emaciated state, with their bones clearly visible through their coat. A vet who treated the dogs gave them each a body condition score of 1/9, the worst possible score.
One of the dogs had faeces matted into his coat. Both had been housed in a kennels that was described to have “stank of death”. Two of the witnesses broke down in tears as they spoke of the terrible condition in which they found the dogs, describing them as weak with sunken eyes. The dogs were ravenously hungry and extremely thirsty.
In the months that followed Buddy’s body condition score went from 1/5 to an “ideal” 5/9. A vet told the court that the only explanation for the improvement was a change of ownership and going from being malnourished to receiving a suitable diet.
Howe was charged with four offences: two of causing unnecessary suffering, contrary to s.4(1) AWA 2006 (failing to feed them); and two offences of breaching a duty of person responsible for animal to ensure welfare, contrary to s.9(1) AWA 2006 (relating to their weight, their housing conditions, and allowing Monty to become covered in faeces and not being given veterinary treatment).
Ultimately, without expert evidence that could rule out heart problems as the cause of Monty’s suffering, the prosecutor dropped one of the s.4(1) charges, but proceeded with the remaining three charges.
Based on the available evidence the judge was satisfied that Howe had taken responsibility for the dogs, but had not taken them to the vets or given them food of sufficient quantity or quality. Because of malnutrition, the judge determined that Buddy had suffered unnecessarily.
Sentencing | 18-month community order with 12-month mental health order and 21 days of rehabilitation; ordered to pay £6,000 towards costs. 10-year ban from owning animals, keeping or participating in keeping them, from being party to an arrangement under which she is entitled to control or influence the way in which animals are kept; or from dealing in animals.
The effect of that sentence has been stayed pending an appeal to the Crown Court. This means that the ban hasn’t yet come into force.
CONVICTED (2022) | Joshua Exall born 26 November 1996, previously of Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, but currently of Davidson House, Knockhall Road, Greenhithe, Dartford DA9 9HE – left a dog alone in a property without food and water for up to two weeks.
Exall pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a female Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog named Shadow and to failing to take steps to ensure her needs were met
Victim Shadow as she was before being cruelly abandoned by her selfish owner, Josh Exall.
The RSPCA had received reports of a thin dog at a property in Whittlesey in January 2022. RSPCA Inspector Justin Stubbs had attended the property and had found an emaciated dog loose in the garden.
He contacted the police who attended and seized Shadow on welfare grounds and placed her in the care of the RSPCA.
Inside the house Inspector Stubbs saw two bowls in the kitchen. There was no food and little water. She had been left for days in the same blocked off area of the kitchen, and was only able to toilet in her own living space.
The RSPCA said the fact that there was no faeces there appears to suggest that Shadow had either eaten it due to hunger or that she had not been fed and therefore there was no food going through her to produce faeces.
Shadow was discovered in an emaciated condition in the kitchen of the property. Her food and water bowls were empty. A lack of faeces indicated that she had eaten them in desperation.
In his defence, Exall said he was very sorry and he should have done better for Shadow.
Speaking after the case Inspector Stubbs said: “Shadow’s owner had failed in the most basic needs, of supplying appropriate food and water, for a prolonged time.
Despite her ordeal Shadow, who was “skin and bone” greeted her rescuers enthusiastically. As well as emaciation, she was suffering from hair loss likely related to lack of nutrition.
“Shadow, was a particularly friendly dog, absolutely craving attention.
“She was left for days, with no exercise, no interaction with human or another dog, and had nothing to do in a small, bare kitchen.
“She was signed over and has been doing well in RSPCA care and has now been rehomed.
“I would like to express my thanks to the members of the public who had done all they could to help Shadow.”
Sentencing |180 hours of unpaid work; costs and charges totalling £495. Disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2019) | James Robert Callaby, born 03/11/1996, of 5 Newlands House, 3 Tindall Close, Wisbech PE13 3QT – attacked a tiny kitten
Callaby was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a black female kitten named Lola by striking her on the head.
Although Lola went on to make a full recovery, the court heard she had suffered for several hours, possibly longer in pain and disorientation.
Sentencing: 24-week suspended prison sentence; 120 hours of unpaid work; 30 days of rehabilitation activity; costs and charges of £735. Banned from keeping animals for 15 years.
CONVICTED (2019) | Lee John Fisher, born March 1989, of Haslehurst Close, March PE15 9BB – starved pigs to death.
Fisher entered a guilty plea to ten offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
The charges relate to the inadequate diet given to the pigs and a lack of veterinary care provided for them.
Farmer Lee John Fisher of March, Cambridgeshire, left pigs to starve to death in horrible conditions
Following the investigation 103 pigs were signed over into RSPCA care.
RSPCA Inspector Alex Coghlan attended the site in August 2018. She said: “We were alerted to the state of this land via an anonymous letter including photographs.
“The smell of the site hit you as soon as you walked in, the pigs were being kept in cramped conditions and in some cases live animals were lying alongside dead ones.
“It was distressing to see particularly as only one pen had any water for the pigs, when we offered the younger pigs a drink they were frantic. I was very concerned for the welfare of these animals.”
Sentencing: two 18-week custodial sentences and eight 9-week custodial sentences on the charges, to run concurrently. £600 costs. Disqualified from keeping all animals for 15 years.
CONVICTED (2019) | Benjamin Rudge, born September 1975, and Olena Lobunets, born December 1971, both of Richard Foster Road, Cambridge CB2 8DW – left a herd of fallow deer to starve to death in a field.
The deer left to starve at Clermont Hall by callous Benjamin Rudge and Olena Lobunets from Cambridge. The surviving animals have recovered well in the care of the RSPCA.
Benjamin Rudge and Olena Lobunets left 14 fallow deer in a paddock at Clermont Hall, Little Cressingham, Thetford, without food or shelter through the worst of the Beast from the East.
During a visit to the property in February 2018, RSPCA inspectors found one deer had died and another had collapsed. The collapsed animal and three others subsequently died.
Former company director Rudge and Ukrainian national Lobunets had been renting out the mansion and three cottages as a holiday home from £3,956 a week for up to 36 people at a time.
Jonathan Eales, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said a housekeeper was employed to look after the property and the fallow deer but he did not have money for animal feed.
He said the animal welfare charity visited the hall after it was contacted by walkers concerned at the condition of the deer.
Inspectors found the animals were emaciated, while their pen was bare of any grass and infested with molehills.
RSPCA workers began visiting to feed the animals, but three more died.
Mr Eales said post mortem examinations revealed the deer were severely underweight and emaciated.
He said: ‘These deer died as a result of neglect. They were malnourished, dehydrated, they were incapable of surviving in an enclosure where there was insufficient food and no shelter.’
Speaking after the hearing, a spokesman for the RSPCA recalled the state of the deer when they first arrived at the estate.
He said: ‘The deer were very skinny – you could clearly see their ribs and their hip bones were protruding.
‘We hoped to remove the animals but expert vets said they were too weak to be moved at that stage. Vets advised us to feed them and our officers, who had launched an investigation, visited them daily to monitor their condition.
‘Ongoing tests established that, in addition to underfeeding, there were problems with worms and poisonous ragwort in the field so the herd needed to be moved to new pastures before ragwort started to come through in spring.
‘The owners failed to move the herd so vets felt they needed to be taken into our care.’
The spokesperson added: ‘The deer have recovered well and are now living with a private deer keeper.
Sentencing | deprivation order to pass ownership of the surviving deer to the RSPCA. Banned from keeping deer for two years (expired). No costs were awarded and no further penalties were ordered against the couple.
