CONVICTED (2022) | Nashia Rickard, born c. 1996, of Kersal Avenue, Little Hulton, Manchester M38 9QR – for unspecified cruelty offences to a Yorkshire terrier-type dog
Rickard failed to provide the dog, named Bo, with a safe environment at her home in Kersal Avenue, Little Hulton, and failed to take reasonable care to protect the animal between July 29 and August 26, 2021.
Rickard pleaded guilty to the charges.
Sentencing | 120 hours of unpaid work; ordered to pay a total of £695. Five-year ban.
CONVICTED (2022) | backyard breeder Emmanuel Paul, born 28 December 1984, of 89 Hacking Street, Salford M7 4ZD – starved and neglected five adult dogs and 17 puppies.
Callous breeder Emmanuel Paul left puppies starving, squealing and locked in cat carriers.
RSPCA officers rescued the dogs after receiving a tip-off with concerns for Paul’s five adult cane corsos, plus two litters of 17 puppies. The court was told the backyard breeder refused to provide the animals with the basic essentials of food, bedding or toys.
Paul, previously of Harvon Garth, Cambridge Street, Rugby, Warwickshire, pleaded guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act on the first day of his trial.
An RSPCA officer visited Paul’s home and a second associated address multiple times in September and October 2020 following concerns for his five adult dogs and two litters of 17 puppies – all Cane Corsos.
He had concerns for one of the bitches, who was underweight and had ‘fresh and deep lacerations’, possibly from fighting with one of the other dogs, as well as one puppy which was ‘lethargic and listless’.
He told Paul they both needed to see a vet urgently and they attended a vet together.
Images from Paul’s Facebook business page. Many of the dogs he bred had cropped ears, which is illegal in the UK.
The officer issued improvement notices and offered advice to help the puppies, returning multiple times to check the advice was being followed, as well as offering to take in the dogs for rehoming if Paul was struggling to take care of them.
The five adult dogs were later taken in by the local housing association and boarded by Dogs Trust.
Three were signed over for rehoming and two remained in the charity’s care but can now be rehomed.
On November 4 2020, RSPCA Inspector Nichola Johnson attended Paul’s address to check on the puppies.
In her witness statement, submitted to court, she said: “As soon as I entered the flat I could hear what sounded like a large number of puppies barking and squealing from what is the living area.
“The smell of ammonia in the property was extremely strong.
“There was a lot of noise coming from the kitchen area and a space next to it. All I could see was some sheets covering up something.
“I began removing the sheets to find in total two black crates and five cat carriers, all containing puppies.
“None of the accommodation had water or bedding provided and were completely devoid of any toys or environmental enrichment.
“I could clearly see three puppies in one crate which were bright and alert and in reasonable bodily condition.
“I could also see clearly into the second crate which contained four puppies, which I would class as reasonable bodily condition.
““I also uncovered five cat carriers each containing a single puppy which I could not see clearly at this point.”
She was concerned about the puppies’ weight and could see no food in the flat.
Paul said he’d recently run out and hadn’t yet had a chance to go out and get more.
One of the poorly puppies rescued from vile greeder Paul
When the five younger puppies were let out of the carriers, Inspector Johnson said: “It was clear to see that they were all in very thin bodily condition. I could see the outline of their spines, ribs and hips as they moved around the flat.
“The puppies did appear bright and alert but seemed to be searching around for something.
“I asked Mr Paul to put down some water for them. As soon as the water was on the floor all the puppies began drinking and continued until it had all gone.”
Inspector Johnson took the five younger puppies for urgent vet checks and experts concluded that they had unnecessarily suffered.
They were seized by police and taken into RSPCA care.
Inspector Johnson made enquiries with the vet Paul had been using who told her he’d not brought the pups in for check-ups or dropped off faecal samples, as requested.
They told her he’d last been into the surgery three days earlier, on 1 November, with a puppy in ‘poor condition’ that was euthanised because Paul ‘could not afford the treatment’.
Following enquiries, Inspector Johnson said, in her statement: “It became apparent to me that Mr Paul had a history of presenting dogs and puppies to [vets] in varying degrees of veterinary need.
“Almost every time he took an animal for attention he was unable to afford the treatment or diagnostic procedures that the examining veterinary surgeon thought was necessary, which, to me, suggests a lack of, or unwillingness to spend, money on the animals in his care going back to March 2020.
“[this] in turn leads me to be concerned as to why the dogs were bred in the first place other than for monetary gain regardless of being able to provide the care and welfare standards animals are legally entitled to.
“On making further enquiries relating to the clinical records collectively… I was sent a copy of a photograph of a blue puppy (NJ/6) which I had not been aware of previously.
“The photograph was horrific and stopped me in my tracks. It showed the image of puppy and its condition when Mr Paul presented it to the veterinary practice on 01/11/2020.”
The puppy was put to sleep by vets. The image led Inspector Johnson to add the pictured puppy to the investigation, alongside the five seized pups.
On 10 November, Inspector Johnson returned to Paul’s flat to check on the older puppies who were in better condition and had been left in situ. She gave him further advice as to their welfare.
On 11 November she went to visit the younger puppies, in RSPCA care, and said they looked ‘remarkably better’ and ‘had all put on weight, were clean and much brighter’, just one week after being rescued.
Further enquiries established that Paul had been to vets to gain a ‘fit to fly’ certificate for two puppies he’d sold to a buyer in the USA and another RSPCA officer had reported concerns to the local authority that he was breeding without a licence.
The remaining dogs – two adults who had not been signed over – were confiscated and can now find new homes. The five puppies who were seized were all signed over and rehomed by the RSPCA.
Sentencing: 22 weeks in prison; £2,000 in costs. Disqualified from keeping animals for five years (expires February 2027).
CONVICTED (2021) | breeder Mark James Blackburn, born c. 1986, of 17 Swanage Road, Eccles, City of Salford M30 8NJ – starved dogs, cats and rabbits to death.
Blackburn was banned from keeping animals after the decomposing bodies of dead dogs, cats and rabbits were found in his home.
He pleaded guilty to four animal welfare offences when he appeared before Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 14 September 2021.
The court heard how the RSPCA were called to Blackburn’s house by the police on December 8, 2019 and found 17 dead animals in the house.
They also came across five underweight Akita dogs.
Inspector Danni Jennnings attended the scene and said when she arrived at the address the front door was already open.
She said: “Before I entered the property I noted an obvious smell consistent with dead bodies.”
During a search of the property she then discovered the bodies of decomposing animals in various rooms.
She said: “In the living room directly off the hallway on the right, there was a dead, black adult rabbit in a wooden box.
“This box contained no food or water.
“Under the window, behind a bed head was another dead, black adult rabbit.
“In the middle of this room, was a decomposing, what appeared to be a pug type dog. This dog appeared to have been scavenged as parts of its legs and face were missing and there was a heavy maggot infestation.
“In a dog crate at the back of this room were two more pug type dogs. These too were in a state of decomposition. There was no food or water visible in this crate.
“In a room off the kitchen was a filthy room conditions in this room were deplorable. Filthy dog crates with no bedding, food or water, three of which contained the decomposed remains of Akita dogs.”
In the kitchen she found a kennel containing a decomposed Akita and in another cardboard box was another dead rabbit. During a search of the hallway, Danni came across two cardboard boxes with the lids shut and when she opened these she found two dead rabbits with no food and water present.
Upstairs the decomposed body of another Akita was found in a crate in the main bedroom and in another bedroom the bodies of four dead and decomposing cats were found.
Five live Akitas were found in the property and were taken for veterinary treatment. All were underweight and three needed drips inserted as they were dehydrated.
Four of the rescued Akitas were owned by other breeders and have been returned to their owners and made a recovery.
One was owned by Blackburn and was signed over into RSPCA care for rehoming.
An expert vet said that the decomposition of the animals suggested they all died at various times from dehydration as no drinking water was present at the house. He added: “All would have suffered from mechanisms of pain, headaches, disorientation, intense thirst, weakness, fatigue, eventual collapse, organ failure and death for a period of at least five days, possibly longer.”
In mitigation the court heard Blackburn was suffering from depression and anxiety.
Sentencing: four months’ custody suspended for six months for each offence to run concurrently; 12-month community order including a 15-day Rehabilitation and Activity Requirement; ordered to pay £900 costs. Ten-year ban on owning animals (expires September 2031).
CONVICTED (2021) | Katrina Joanne Parkinson (aka Katrina Kirkby), born 13 September 1992, of Falcon Drive, Little Hulton, City of Salford M38 9SN and Peter Brooks, born c. 1989, of Kirkhall Lane, Leigh, Wigan WN7 – produced “utterly disgusting and depraved” pornographic videos involving puppies
Sexual deviants Katrina Parkinson and Peter Brooks of Greater Manchester
Backyard breeder Katrina Parkinson made three sordid videos showing her having sex with between five and seven puppies. Parkinson sent the videos via WhatsApp to her boyfriend, Peter Brooks, in a sad attempt to reignite his interest in her. The pair then exchanged a series of “jokey” messages about the videos.
There was no evidence that the puppies had been harmed and the pair do not appear to have sent the videos to anyone else.
A further 13 extreme pornographic pictures and videos of sexual activity between people and dogs and horses were found on Parkinson’s electronic devices.
Mother-of-two Parkinson, who works as a massage therapist, pleaded guilty to possession of 13 extreme pornographic images and publishing three extreme pornographic videos. Brooks, who also has children, admitted possessing an extreme pornographic image.
Parkinson’s lawyer told the court his client had paid paid a heavy price as social services became involved and her children no longer live with her.
Judge Suzanne Goddard QC described the videos as “utterly disgusting and depraved”.
“Society finds the keeping of images such as these, let alone the creation of them, as utterly repugnant,” she said.
“The facts of this case are utterly repugnant to ordinary, decent members of society.”
Sentencing: Parkinson – six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activities.
Brooks – four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. 100 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activities. £250 towards prosecution costs.
CONVICTED (2018) | Laura Kiseliova, aka Laura Kiselova-Tite, born 14/06/1979, and Raimondas Titas, born 13/03/1981, formerly of Ladywell Avenue, Manchester M38, but believed to have fled to their native Lithuania – imported and sold sick ‘designer’ pets.
Raimondas Titas and Laura Kiseliova during an earlier court appearance. They have now fled to their native country of Lithuania.
Lithuanians Laura Kiseliova and Raimondas Titas kept sick dogs and cats in filthy, cramped cages to sell for thousands of pounds.
They set up an online puppy farm called Pets313 and encouraged customers to buy popular breeds like pugs and French bulldogs.
An investigation into the pair began after they were twice stopped from importing dogs at ports in Kent.
A local vet had also raised the alarm about a puppy that had been sold in the city, but had an Eastern European microchip.
Many of the animals had not received the appropriate care and veterinary attention they needed and were suffering from conditions such as conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis or had sore and infected wounds.
The animals included French bulldogs and pugs, as well as pedigree cats, and they were being sold for between £800 and £1,000 each.
The pair made around 680 sales, generating between £230,000 and more than £300,000.
Despite buyers being told they were receiving British-bred pups, they were actually getting Eastern European dogs that had travelled over to the UK on a Pet Passport bought by the Lithuanian couple.
And when they arrived home, the dogs suddenly became ill and lethargic after having been kept in dire conditions in small cages or crates in a garage.
The pair were sentenced to years behind bars at Manchester Crown Court in their absence, as they fled abroad before the hearing on Thursday 13/12/2018.
They had previously pleaded guilty to a total of 29 charges, including several animal welfare offences.
RSPCA inspectors, police and trading standards found 41 dogs, including French and English bulldogs and pugs, and eight cats, which included Persian and spinx types, when they searched their previous home in Prestwich on November 18, 2013.
They discovered the pair were trafficking dogs under the pet passport scheme, and selling them to members of the public under the company name Pets 313 Ltd.
Pedigree cats were also found at the property.
Officers also found more than 40 pet passports which didn’t match the dogs at the property, suggesting they were passing off trafficked dogs as those bred in the UK.
The dogs who were found included French bulldogs and pugs, as well as pedigree cats, which were being sold for between £800 and £1,000 each.
The pair were charged with a number of offences, including failing to provide them with a suitable environment, and failing to provide veterinary care.
One of the RSPCA investigators leading the operation, who didn’t want to be named, said: “The front room of the property was being used to sell the animals to members of the public but it was when you entered the rest of the house the scale of this operation became apparent.
“There were cages and pens containing different breeds of dogs in almost every room including a litter of puppies in a filthy ensuite bathroom upstairs. In a large garage at the back we found cages of animals stacked on top of each other.
Many of the cats were in very poor condition.
“It was clear there were some cats and puppies that needed immediate veterinary treatment and sadly two of the puppies that were rushed to the vets for treatment later died from parvovirus.
“There was little sign of proper isolation pens for sick animals or biosecurity measures meaning any animal that passed through this place would be at risk of catching and spreading diseases and parasites.
“This was a large money-making operation at the expense of the welfare of the animals and the unsuspecting members of public who thought they were buying healthy, happy puppies.”
RSPCA SOU Chief Insp Ian Briggs said: “It was obvious that this duo were dealing and trading in a large number of animals and that many of them were not receiving the appropriate care and veterinary attention they needed.
“Some of the animals were suffering from problems such as conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis or had sore and infected wounds.”
Most of the animals have been signed over into RSPCA care and have been rehomed.
Chief Insp Briggs added: “We have seen a concerning increase in the number of calls we are receiving about large-scale traders dealing, predominantly, in puppies.
“We are regularly appalled by the conditions we find puppies living in and the stories we hear from owners who have, just days after bringing their puppy home, held their new dog as he died in their arms from preventable diseases and infections.
“Unfortunately, a major factor in this trade is traffickers – such as this pair – bringing in poorly pups from abroad, without the right vaccinations and documents, and selling them to unsuspecting buyers here in England.”
Sentencing | Kiseliova was sentenced to a total of four years in prison while Titas was jailed for three years and six months. Both were banned from keeping pets for life.
Laura Kiseliova was finally behind bars in the UK after surrendering herself to Spanish police in Barcelona in August 2019. A European Arrest Warrant was executed to bring her back to Britain.
Co-defendant Raimondas Titas is still on the run.
Kiseliova’s barrister said her client had spent a month in a Spanish jail, which was a ‘salutary and intimidating experience’,
The circumstances surrounding her arrest are unclear, but police found she had no cash or bank cards, and an ID document in a different name.
In a letter to the judge, Kiseliova claimed that she handed herself in because her child was now two years old, and old enough for one of her adult children to look after them in her absence.
But Judge Richard Mansell QC said that without a birth certificate or photo of the child, he would not accept her claims.
He described it as ‘just yet another lie this lady will spin to try and get out of a tight situation’.
Judge Richard Mansell QC told Kiseliova: “You left the country in quite a deliberate attempt to evade justice.”
“A tight situation created by lie after lie after lie to innocent customers to who she sold dogs,” the judge added.
The judge said the only mitigation available to Kiseliova was her guilty plea to breaching bail.
She had previously made an unsuccessful attempt to vacate guilty pleas she had entered to the original puppy farm offences.
Judge Mansell described Kiseliova as “a fraudster and a liar” demonstrated by her “attempt to wriggle out of her pleas of guilty”.
Sentencing, the judge told Kiseliova: “You left the country in quite a deliberate attempt to evade justice.”
Judge Mansell said that the delays in the case caused by Kiseliova had caused added expense and inconvenience.
CONVICTED (2018) | for beating a helpless dog Chelsey Alice Clayton, born 22 March 1993, of Memorial Road, Walkden M28, Jamie Lee Wilson, born 24 August 1994 of Birch Road, Walkden M28 7FE, and the dog’s owner Dean Mark Anthony Smedley, born 1 August 1992, of Willow Tree Court, Eccles M30 8PS
A twisted trio of animal abusers from Manchester
Neighbours filmed Jamie Lee Wilson repeatedly punching a Staffy named Bob (pictured) as the dog yelped out in pain in the back yard of a house occupied by Wilson’s partner, Chelsey Clayton. Clayton was also filmed attacking the dog.
The RSPCA began investigating when several neighbours tipped them off regarding dogs being potentially beaten at Clayton’s property on Memorial Road in Walkden.
An RSPCA inspector went round and viewed the footage, shown to a district judge in Manchester magistrates’ court, which captured first Clayton hitting a dog in the back yard of her property.
That was followed by a ‘prolonged’ attack by Wilson who, despite the animal being obscured for some it, can be seen grabbing and throwing him around and raising his fists and punching him.
Bob’s ordeal lasted well over a minute and the dog was ‘screaming, crying and clearly in distress’, said Anna McDonald, prosecuting for the RSPCA.
At the end of the footage, Wilson was seen holding up the dog and punching it to the head.
An RSPCA inspector attended with police officers following the incident, on 17 August 2017, and seized all the animals at the property for their protection.
Remorseless: convicted dog abuser Chelsey Clayton pictured outside court
Bob was examined, and had a laceration to his lip but no other injuries and no treatment was required.
However, a vet confirmed any animal which has been beaten, causing it to cry as heard on the video, will have been caused to suffer unnecessarily.
Wilson and Clayton were both charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
The charges were proved in the pair’s absence at a hearing in February 2018.
Dean Smedley, who was Bob’s owner, was at the property at the time of the attack and ‘failed to do anything to prevent Bob from being beaten and suffering unnecessarily’, the prosecution said.
Bob’s useless owner Dean Smedley did nothing to stop his dog from being beaten by Clayton and Wilson
He was convicted of two offences of failing to take steps to prevent physical violence to a protected animal.
Speaking after the case, RSPCA Inspector Vicky MacDonald said: “This was a really shocking case which is reflected by the sentences handed down.
“I’m really grateful to the witnesses who came forward to take a stand against this kind of behaviour who, in doing so, enabled us to conduct this investigation, and to the police for the help that I received from them throughout.”
Sentencing:
Wilson: jailed for 14 weeks and banned from keeping animals for 10 years (expires June 2028). His legal team lodged an appeal against his sentence.
Clayton: eight-week sentence, suspended for a year, £200 costs. Disqualified from keeping animals for eight years (expires June 2026).
Smedley (sentenced in May 2018): 18-week prison sentence, suspended for two years. 150 hours of unpaid work. Disqualified from keeping animals for seven years (expires May 2025).
CONVICTED (2017) | Jewan Shikho, born c. 1991, of Cheshill Court, Marlborough Road, Salford M7 4SD – kept birds and animals in squalor at his pet shop and caused the death of a goldfish
Pet shop owner Shikho was banned from trading until May 2022 after animals were found being kept in appalling conditions.
The court heard how he killed a goldfish by unplugging a fish tank pump to charge his mobile phone. Four other fish were rescued from the tank after the oxygen pipe was left without power.
A parakeet was also found dead in piles of excrement and baby rabbits were seen roaming around the filthy shop because their hutches were not secure.
Council environmental health officers found the shocking conditions when they visited Pets Place in Great Cheetham Street East, Salford.
The owner ‘cared nothing for the welfare of the animals, only for his profits’, town hall bosses said.
Parakeets had been crammed into a makeshift aviary with insufficient perching space and were having to cling to the sides of the cage, while one bird lay dead.
A baby rabbit was left without access to water and three others roamed freely round the mouse-infested premises.
Shikho, who is believed to be a Kurdish national, breached 23 conditions of his pet shop licence, including having no documentation to show where the animals had come from or who he had sold them to.
He pleaded guilty to failing to comply with pet shop licence conditions as prescribed under The Pet Animals Act
Magistrates heard that officers from Salford council went to the shop in August 2016, following a complaint.
They had to get a warrant to enter the shop as Shikho failed to respond to phone calls and messages advising him that officers wanted to inspect.
The rabbits were removed by the RSPCA because they were in poor health. A follow-up inspection a week later found Shikho had removed the aviary.
Sentencing: 80 hours of unpaid community work; costs and charges totalling £940. Pet shop licence revoked. Disqualified for five years from keeping a pet shop (expired May 2022).
#MostEvil | Carl Peter McQuillan, born 09/02/1987, of Spruce Court, Salford M6 5EW – admitted he “never gave a second thought” to the dog he abandoned to starve to death.
Staffordshire bull terrier Cleo was found dead, surrounded by faeces and urine and with flies around her body at a house in Swinton.
The horrifying extent of McQuillan’s neglect was outlined by prosecutors. He admitted “not giving a second thought” to the dog after moving in elsewhere with his father after his stepmother was diagnosed with cancer, it was said.
The RSPCA were originally called to his home in January 2015, after receiving reports of an abandoned dog, but they were assured she had not been left alone for long.
Then on 14 March 2016 police were called to Bolton Road in Swinton, near the Lord Nelson pub, to reports of a public order offence.
After being arrested McQuillan told officers he needed to go home to pick up some medication for a heart problem.
It was then police came across his dog, which had been left to fend for herself since Christmas time.
Prosecuting for the RSPCA, Anne McDonald said a police officer who entered the room encountered an ‘overwhelming smell’ which made him feel ‘physically sick and took his breath away’.
She added: “He said that the dog was clearly deceased and appeared in a mummified state. He said he was shocked at the state of the animal and had never seen a dog left in such a condition.”
A post mortem examination found that the dog could have died any time from eight to 40 days before she was discovered by police. A child’s shoe was found in the dog’s mouth and other items in her stomach.
McQuillan’s lawyer Michael Cahill conceded his client “didn’t give the animal a second thought.”
Addressing McQuillan, the judge said: “It was a horrendous offence. There was quite clearly neglect.
“You effectively abandoned your dog around Christmas and it was found dead in March.
“The dog had tried to eat just about anything before it died. I have no doubt it suffered a miserable death.”
Sentence: 16 weeks in prison for the animal offence plus 10 weeks for assault on his partner, to run consecutively.
ACQUITTED (2016) | Jordan Thomason, born c. 1992, of Alexandra Road, Walkden, Worsley, Salford M28 3RJ – hit a German shepherd over the head repeatedly with a samurai sword – CLEARED of causing unnecessary suffering.
Thomason struck the five-year-old dog called Kaiser “two or three times” with the 2.5ft long weapon outside his home in Little Hulton after the dog supposedly attacked him.
He claimed Kaiser had “gone for” a girl at his house and when he tried to get outside the home where he lived with his mother, the dog followed him.
Thomason said: “I was seeing this girl and she had stayed over. We were messing about in the front room. The dog went for the girl and was jumping up to bite her.”
He said he grabbed the dog but it then latched onto his buttock.
Thomason, who was formerly in the Army, said: “I was scared.”
He then picked up a samurai sword from near the front door, that belonged to his mum’s partner, and opened the door to let the girl and himself out – but the dog chased him.
He said: “I hit him two or three times, he was attacking me.”
In police interview he denied that the dog had bitten him but said in court that was because he was worried the dog would be put down. He had the dog since it was a puppy and said it was like his ‘best mate’.
Thomason’s friend, Matthew Howell, who was in a car outside the house when it happened also gave evidence and described the dog as ‘like something out of a film’ as it was barking loudly and ‘baring teeth’ ready to pounce.
RSPCA officers said the two inch wound had ‘gone through the skin and muscle and fractured the dog’s sinews’.
A photograph was shown in court of the wound. Thomason pleaded guilty to being in possession of an offensive weapon, but denied the charge of causing suffering to an animal.
Mitigating, Ellie Akhgar, said he had not told the truth initially because he was worried the dog would be put down.
A neighbour also gave evidence stating he had seen the man hit the dog up to eight times, from around 40ft away. He said he hit the dog a number of times with considerable force, and the dog was just stood at his side.
Chair of the bench, Dr Lorraine Lighton, said Mr Howell would have seen more clearly what happened and said photographs of the dog’s injury were more consistent with being struck two or three times.
Thomason was found not guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, but was to be sentenced at a later date for being in possession of an offensive weapon.
