CONVICTED (2021) | puppy farmer Jayne Bowerman, born 9 January 1961, of 4 Ty Meddyg, Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent NP23 5FP – falsely advertised farmed puppies as home-bred
Jayne Bowerman received a heavy fine for her illicit puppy trading business.
Jayne Bowerman pleaded guilty to nine offences following an investigation into her family’s pet shop by Blaenau Gwent Trading Standards Service.
Family business: Jayne Bowerman is pictured here with husband and business partner Lee Bowerman, their daughter Harriet Bowerman, and son Jack Bowerman. The latter, a horse dealer trading under the name Trenewydd Welsh Cobs, is also a puppy trader and frequently advertises litters on Facebook and elsewhere.
Bowerman advertised and sold puppies by giving the impression she was a private breeder, when in fact Tyr Meddyg Pups, the business she owned jointly with her husband Lee Bowerman (born 21 July 1958) , was a commercial pet shop. She also failed to disclose that she was not the owner of the mother dog referred to in the adverts.
Jayne and Jack Bowerman
Bowerman had hidden the business’s identity when advertising, often using false names and contact addresses when placing adverts on websites such as Freeads.co.uk – which strictly prohibits pet shops from advertising.
Trading Standards received a number of complaints – dating from June 2019 – from customers who felt misled, as they thought they were buying from a private breeder and were expecting that they would be able to view the mother.
Lee Bowerman with son Jack.
Many of the complainants said they would not have contacted the seller after viewing the adverts had they known the business was a licensed pet shop.
Richard Crook, corporate director for public protection at Blaenau Gwent council, said: “Adverts must provide prospective customers with clear and accurate information about the product, in this case animal, being sold and about the type or nature of the business that is offering the pet for sale.
“The Trading Standards investigation revealed that Bowerman did not do this and deliberately misled customers.”
Patrick Smith, defending, told the court that since Bowerman had been aware of the investigation, she had stopped advertising.
He also claimed that the business had received threats and intimidation and claimed there had also been instances where his client’s adverts had been cloned and replicated.
Bowerman pleaded guilty to a total of eight charges of a trader engaging in unfair commercial practice, and one charge of a trader engaging in a commercial practice which is a misleading omission.
She was fined a total of £4,500, and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs, as well as a £181 victim surcharge.
Source: Facebook 19 July 2021.Source: FacebookSource: Facebook.
Cllr Joanna Wilkins, executive member for the environment at Blaenau Gwent Council, said: “This was a lengthy and challenging Trading Standards investigation where victims were misled by the practices of Bowerman.
“The case illustrates the importance that puppy purchasers know the origin and home environment of the animal they are purchasing.
Jayne and Jack Bowerman.
“The Tyr Meddyg business did not stick to the rules and advertised under false names, masquerading on advertising platforms as private home breeders.
“Fortunately, Lucy’s Law was adopted as law in Wales on September 10, and it is now illegal to sell puppies or kittens unless being sold by the original breeder.
“This will provide greater protection for customers and combat third party sales which are often linked to puppy farming.”
CONVICTED (2021) | Ricardo O James, born 14 February 1979, of 97 Bale Road, Leicester LE4 9BG – left dead animals to rot on his farm while others went without food or water.
Ricardo James, owner of James Farms, Keyham Lane East, Scraftoft, Leicester allowed his animals to suffer in poor conditions while leaving dead sheep and lambs in a plastic container on his land.
Leicestershire Trading Standards Animal Health Team officers and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) raised a number of concerns about the poor condition of the animals during a visit to the farm on November 3, 2020.
Several dead sheep and lambs were found in a blue plastic tub in an area where around 20 other sheep, seven cattle, 13 goats, 20 pigs and 12 geese were also being kept.
James was warned and advised to fix six issues which the inspectors had classed as ‘requiring improvement’.
But animal health team officers and APHA veterinarian then found the standards in which animals were being kept had “rapidly deteriorated” in several areas when they revisited the site on November 13, 2020.
A number of animals on the land had been left without fresh water, adequate food or suitable shelter.
“Of the six points of requiring improvement, only one had been acted upon,” a spokesperson for the county council said.
Mr James was then charged with ten different offences, which included:
Failing to dispose of livestock animal carcasses without undue delay
Two charges of failing to ensure the needs of the animals were met
Failing to provide pigs with continuous access to fresh drinking water.
Failing to provide livestock with buildings which could be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected
Failing to provide pigs with accommodation with a covered floor
Not providing a suitable environment to five cattle which had a poor body condition
Not providing a suitable diet to five cattle with a poor body condition
Not protecting five cattle with a poor body condition from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
Failing to provide a sufficient number of skilled staff
Sentencing
James pleaded guilty to all 10 related offences and was sentenced to 12 weeks in custody, suspended for 12 months.
He was also handed a life disqualification from keeping and dealing in farmed animals, which in accordance with the law will be suspended for a 21-day period to allow the animals to be removed.
As part of his sentence, James will not be able to appeal for his disqualification to be lifted for five years,
He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £128 and contribute £500 towards the prosecution’s costs. The Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards Service accepted a collection order of £75 per month with the first payment within 28 days.
CONVICTED (2021) | Margaret Cawley, husband John Cawley, Joseph Cawley Senior, Joseph Cawley Junior, Michael Cawley, Annalise Cawley, John O’Brien and wife Mary O’Brien, Daniel and James Yeboah, Mary Ward, Austin Paice and Rebecca Hall – imported and sold sick puppies across Buckinghamshire.
Members of an international puppy farming gang based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, were jailed for a total of more than 18 years after masterminding a large operation to traffic sick puppies into the UK from southern Ireland to be sold on to the public.
Annalise Cawley with her father Joseph Cawley Senior
In total, thirteen people appeared at Aylesbury Crown Court for sentencing. These included several members of Irish traveller family the Cawleys, who originate from Mullacreevie Park, County Armagh.
Joseph John Cawley a/a Joseph Cawley Junior
Ten of the defendants pleaded guilty to fraud and nine of those also admitted animal welfare offences, and a further three pleading guilty to animal welfare offences.
John Christopher Cawley with Kathleen Cawley (the latter wasn’t prosecuted).
Seven were handed immediate jail terms totalling more than 18 years; the longest combined prison sentences an RSPCA investigation has ever seen.
Lead RSPCA investigator Michelle Hare said the prosecution followed “a large multi-agency investigation into a sophisticated and complex puppy farming ring in the Milton Keynes area”.
She added: “This operation was led by the Cawley family who were illegally breeding and importing puppies to supply to third parties – or frontmen – to be sold to unsuspecting members of the public on their behalf.
“Dogs were kept in poor conditions in lorry containers and the backs of vans and were often riddled with health problems but were sold to innocent families who were hoping to add a dog to their homes but were, instead, left with staggering vet bills, dogs with complicated needs and, for some, the heartache of losing their puppy.”
Between June and November 2019, the RSPCA and Trading Standards received a large number of complaints about the sale of puppies from different addresses in the Milton Keynes area.
The gang would smuggle several dogs into the UK from southern Ireland a day and then kept them in atrocious conditions.
Some of them had become sick and others had undisclosed health issues.
Three of the puppies died and many had been sold with fraudulent vaccination cards.
Initially these cases were investigated in isolation but, as statements were gathered, it became apparent that the addresses were linked and the RSPCA joined up with Milton Keynes Council’s Trading Standards department to investigate.
Brother and sister Joseph Cawley Junior and Annalise Cawley
In March 2020, RSPCA officers joined Thames Valley Police as they executed warrants at six addresses, one storage unit and a number of unregistered vehicles at the Willen Road travellers’ site in Newport Pagnell and Avon House in Bletchley, Milton Keynes.
Police seized 54 dogs including cocker spaniels, schnauzers, chihuahuas, springer spaniels, Labradors, beagles and poodles.
In her witness statement, Inspector Hare said:
“As I made my way onto the site it was clear that there were a very large number of dogs and puppies present. Other than a couple of dogs running loose on site, the rest were all being housed in lorry bodies and storage containers situated on the site.
“Some of the dogs had untreated health problems and conditions including fur loss, ear infections and dental disease, and they were all being kept in wholly inappropriate environments.
Annalise Cawley with husband Patrick Cawley. The latter was not prosecuted.
“The trailers had been split into pens and all of the dogs were being kept in poor conditions. The kennels were dirty and smelt strongly of ammonia, while one of the pens was full of hazards including nails sticking out, sharp metal mesh and wires hanging down. There were holes in the walls and floor that appeared to have been caused by the dogs trying to chew out of the space.
“We removed four pregnant bitches and a poodle cross who had recently given birth, along with five poodle cross puppies who were just 48-hours-old. Police seized a total of 51 dogs and a further four litters of puppies were born in our care.”
Officers found empty vaccination vials and needles, alongside flea and worming products, a stack of blank vaccination sheets which matched those the victims had been given when they purchased puppies from the associated addresses.
Interviews were conducted with members of the Cawley family – who admitted ownership of some dogs but claimed they didn’t know who owned others – and with the ‘frontmen’: Yeboah, John and Mary O’Brien, Hall and Paice.
Annalise Cawley with husband Patrick Cawley
A separate investigation had been carried out following the sale of puppies from another second property in Milton Keynes. But it was soon linked with this investigation – named Operation Sandpiper – when CCTV footage was obtained showing a man, identified as John Christopher Cawley from Willen Road, delivering puppies.
A second vehicle – a red van recorded as travelling on a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool on 29 October 2019 with passengers listed under the Cawley name – was also seen delivering puppies to this property and later returned from Holyhead to Dublin on 13 November. The contact number provided by the passengers matched the number used to advertise three litters of puppies online.
A witness went to view a Dalmatian puppy at the address after an online advert was posted; it explained the puppy was being rehomed as it was being bullied by their other dog, a pug. The same seller had also advertised a Labrador puppy, photos of which appear to have been taken in the wash house.
Another witness attended Whaddon Way, Milton Keynes, in October 2019, responding to an advert for cocker spaniel puppies. She didn’t buy the puppy from the seller – believed to be Daniel Yeboah – as it looked unwell.
She went back onto Pets 4 Homes and found another advert with the same photos but a different listed seller.
When she contacted the seller she claimed that she was having to rehome the puppy as it was being bullied by her pug.
Austin Paice
The RSPCA gathered further intelligence in October 2020 that puppies were being imported from Ireland, housed on a travellers’ site and sold online, and the adverts were linked to Michael Cawley.
On 4 November 2020, Thames Valley Police contacted the charity after an officer attended Willen Road and found puppies there. Inspector Hare attended to meet police at the scene and found a collie bitch, a cocker spaniel bitch, a 12-week-old cocker spaniel puppy, and three six-week-old spaniel cross pups on site.
Inspector Hare said: “The three youngest pups were in a dark, cold pen and they couldn’t see anything but four solid walls. The water was dirty and the bedding smelled strongly of urine. The environment was totally unsuitable.”
“Joseph Cawley Snr, who was on scene, said his cousin owned the puppies. I told him I’d be removing them and asked for the owner’s details but he refused to give them to me. Police seized the puppies. They had brown discharge in their ears, nasty infections and bloated abdomens.”
Details of convictions/sentencing:
• Annalise Cawley, born 23/03/1999, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• John Christopher Cawley, born 18/08/1996, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received three -and-a-half years in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• Joseph Cawley Senior, born 10/02/1977, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received three years and nine months in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• Joseph John Cawley, born 04/12/2002, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to animal welfare act offences and received a 24-month community order with 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days, 150 hours of unpaid work and a 10 -year disqualification order on all animals;
• Margaret Cawley, born 01/11/1974, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received three years and nine months in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• Michael Cawley, born 17/07/1980, of 20 Reeves Croft, Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes MK12 6DA pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received two years and three months in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• Rebecca Elizabeth Lorraine Hall, born 13/12/1990, of 8 Shepherds, Fullers Slade, Milton Keynes MK11 2BH pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received four months suspended for two years, £750 compensation and a 10-year disqualification order on dogs;
• John Paul O’Brien, born 29/09/1971, of 11 Grangers Croft, Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes MK12 6D pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received 13 months in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on dogs;
• Wendy Jane Ann O’Brien, born 04/04/1989, of 11 Grangers Croft, Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes MK12 6DA pleaded guilty to animal welfare act offences and received three months suspended for two years, three-month curfew order, £1,000 compensation and a 10-year disqualification order on dogs;
• Austin Charles Paice, born 12/12/1986, of 126 Whaddon Way, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 7DQ (has an alternative address at 25 Orchard House, Green Lane, Wolverton, Milton Keynes MK12 5EZ pleaded guilty to fraud and received a 13-month prison sentence. Animal welfare offences have been remitted back to the magistrates’ court;
• Mary Ward aka Mary Ward-Jackson or Mary Johnston , born 25/10/1989, of 20 Reeves Croft, Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes MK12 6DB pleaded guilty to animal welfare act offences and received three months suspended for two years, 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• James Yeboah , born 27/08/1977, of 98 Avon House, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 7BS pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received nine months suspended for two years, 150 hours of unpaid work, £1,000 costs and compensation, and a 10 year disqualification order;
• Daniel Yeboah, born 13/06/1976, also of 98 Avon House, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 7BS pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare offences and received three and a half years in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals.
The court also issued destruction orders for 10 seized mobile phones and forfeited £16,000 of seized cash which will be distributed to the victims.
Costs of £100,357.63 were awarded to the RSPCA.
All of the dogs were cared for by the RSPCA and in foster homes and can now all be rehomed.
Joseph Cawley Jr and Sr
After the two-day sentencing hearing, Judge Francis Sheridan said: ‘Not one of the defendants in this case should ever be given a licence to breed animals.
‘The effects referred to in this case cannot be regarded by the public as anything other than utterly abhorrent.
‘This is a trade in cruelty and misery for the animals and the human beings who sought to buy them. The protection of the public must be foremost in my mind.
‘This is a massive industry and that is all it is, an industry of misery.’
The judge also warned consumers to take care when they bought dogs from the website Pets4Homes, which had been used to facilitate the sale of many of the scammers’ puppies.
CONVICTED (2021) | Oliver Jones, born 16 October 1989, previously of Wood View Travellers Site in Leys Lane, Attleborough, Norfolk NR17 1NF and now Somerville, Peterborough PE4 5BB – for animal cruelty offences in relation to a starved foal with multiple health issues
Oliver Jones received a 20-year ban on owning horses after admitting cruelty to a mare and her foal
Oliver Jones was given a suspended jail sentence and banned from keeping horses after severely neglecting the foal, named Hercules
Jones, who has a criminal record, was caught after trading standards officers were called to a site near Attleborough in 2019.
The court heard how the emaciated foal was among thirteen horses found in a small paddock full of muck and rubbish with no grass, after council officers, alongside World Horse Welfare, visited a site near Attleborough on 30 July 2019.
A vet who examined the pair at the scene was so concerned they were immediately taken away for emergency treatment, with the foal suffering multiple health issues relating to nutrition, worming, basic care, and for the malformation of the foal’s legs.
Sadly, the mother of the foal had been severely affected by the neglect causing a chronic heart defect which later led to her sudden death.
Hercules went on to recover in the care of World Horse Welfare, and two years after his rescue, is now in good health and waiting to be rehomed.
Sentencing: 10 weeks in custody, suspended for 12 months. Banned from keeping horses for 20 years.
CONVICTED (2019) | Dennis Thorne, born c. 1976, of Kington Magna, Gillingham, Dorset SP9 – failed to care for goats, ferrets and poultry on his smallholding
Thorne, who is a Romany gypsy, pleaded guilty to six offences under animal health and welfare legislation following an investigation by Dorset Council Trading Standards. This included four offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 of causing unnecessary suffering to a flock of 30-40 poultry, two goats and two ferrets, by failing to provide them with appropriate care and one offence of failing to inspect his animals at regular intervals.
He also pleaded guilty to an offence of failing to tag his two goats, which is legally required to prevent animal disease spread.
In March 2019, trading standards officers visited land Thorne rented at Okeford Fitzpaine, near Sturminster Newton. They discovered the carcasses of around 20 ducks, chicken and geese littering the animal enclosure. The few surviving poultry were emaciated and in filthy conditions.
Two emaciated goats were also found in a small pen with no clean water or dry lying area.
In a nearby barn were cages containing the carcasses of two ferrets. The cages were filthy and all of the drinking containers were empty. Despite having received previous advice from the team, the goats were not tagged.
All the animals remaining in Thorne’s possession were seized by Trading Standards under the Animal Health Act and then cared for by the RSPCA. Thorne later agreed to give up his ownership of them.
The court was advised that Thorne had received a formal caution from the RSPCA in 2009 for causing unnecessary suffering to a horse.
Sentencing |14 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. Community Order of 200 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation. Ordered to pay £715. Banned from keeping all animals for 10 years (expires November 2029).
CONVICTED (2019) | Paul G Robinson, born c. 1969, of Hill Farm, Harby Lane, Plungar, Nottingham NG13 0JH – for the severe neglect of pigs, cattle and sheep.
Robinson was visited by Trading Standards officers after a member of the public contacted them about the conditions his animals were being kept in.
When they arrived at Hill Farm, they found pigs were living in darkness and one ewe was not getting enough food to produce milk for her undernourished lamb.
Officers from the RSPCA attended the same day and they immediately took all 27 cattle and 46 pigs from the 20-acre farm for welfare reasons.
The sheep, goats, chickens and other animals were left on the farm.
Robinson pleaded guilty to 16 charges relating to the cattle, pigs and sheep.
But magistrates agreed to a ban that only included pigs and cattle.
While some of the offences he admitted were for causing suffering to his livestock, others related to failures to properly tag animals, notify the government about animal purchases and deaths and following codes of practice.
Adam Clemens, prosecuting on behalf of Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards, said: “The cattle and pigs had insufficient feed and the sheep had for the most part no feed.
“A third of the pens had no water and cattle were thin.”
He said pig carcasses were seen lying among the pigs while sheep carcasses had been burned.
Six further visits were made to the farm by the Trading Standards officers.
When Robinson was interviewed by Trading Standards the answers he gave were “cause for concern”, Mr Clemens said.
He said Robinson had never read any codes of practice farmers should follow, and did not think animals needed access to food and water at all times.
When asked about the burned lamb carcasses, Robinson said he believed his dogs had dragged the dead animals onto a bonfire, although he later pleaded guilty to burning four lamb carcasses.
Robinson told the interviewers he cleaned the animal sheds out every three to six months and saw no problem with the way the animals were being kept.
Mr Clemens said there had been many other concerns about the farm in recent years.
There was not a single year between 2012 and 2017 Trading Standards did not visit the farm and Mr Clemens said had no information about years prior to 2012 because the records were not available.
Kim Lee, representing Robinson, said his client had always been “less than a junior partner” to his father who “would rule the farm with a rod of iron”.
He said his client had been “overwhelmed” since his father’s death a year ago and was also struggling to look after his mother, who suffers from dementia.
Meanwhile, the farm was making a loss of about £3,000 per year, he said.
Mr Lee said: “This is a man who recognises the error of his ways and has taken steps to address the errors of the past.
“His financial situation is precarious. It’s no life. There’s no profit.”
Mr Lee asked the magistrates not to ban Robinson from keeping all animals so that he could continue as a farmer.
He said: “It’s all he’s known – man and boy.”
He said his client would not mind being banned from keeping pigs and cattle and would reduce the number of sheep on his farm from 81 to no more than 50.
Sentencing: six-month jail sentence suspended for two years; ordered to pay total of £2,115 costs and charges. Lifetime ban on keeping pigs and cattle.
CONVICTED (2019) | Mohammed Saeed Malik, born 4 May 1983, of 26 Rondini Avenue, Luton LU3 1RR – kept hundreds of animals and birds in poor conditions on a smallholding.
Malik was sent to prison for 12 weeks and disqualified from keeping all animals for a period of 20 years after pleading guilty to a number of animal welfare offences.
Prosecutor Janita Patel told the court the case concerned the neglect of a large number of animals kept by the defendant on a smallholding/allotment-type premises in Kempston.
The RSPCA and Trading Standards had made a number of visits to the premises during April to August 2018, and advice and warning notices were issued to improve the manner in which the animals were being kept. But this advice was ignored and as a result a multi-agency operation, involving police, RSPCA, Trading Standards, Animal Plant and Health Agency and vets was carried out in September 2018.
Over a period of three days around 300 animals were removed on welfare grounds, including 195 chickens, 50 goats, five horses, three alpacas, five sheep, 32 geese, eight ducks, two turkeys and three peafowl.
Despite the nature of the operation the defendant obtained more animals and further complaints were made. The RSPCA attended a further four times to remove animal. On the last visit on February 4, 2019, 368 pigeons, 38 chickens and three quails were removed.
During the investigation officers found an array of animals were found to be kept in poor unacceptable conditions, with insufficient water and food available. Animals were also in poor body conditions.
Horses with their bones showing and overgrown hooves were kept on bare ground with insufficient grazing or supplementary feed and the water was dirty, sheep were underweight and had overgrown hooves, goats were kept in a shed made of pallets and had insufficient grazing or provision of hay, many of the goats were underweight and had overgrown hooves, and alpacas were underweight with overgrown hooves.
Poultry in poor body condition was kept in locations strewn with rubbish and hazards. There was also dead poultry carcasses left on site.
One vet who attended said that there had been gross negligence shown to each of the animals removed that had been under the defendant’s care, and that the animals had not had their needs met on multiple levels despite professional advice.
Speaking after the case RSPCA Inspector Susan Haywood said: “Despite visits by the RSPCA and Trading Standards giving advice and warning notices to improve the manner in which these animals were being kept, this was mostly ignored.
“The conditions of the animals, and the locations they were kept in, was shocking. Animals were in poor body conditions and were being kept in places without adequate clean water, grazing and feed.
“Some animals had their bones showing, others were lame and many had overgrown hooves.
“If someone takes on a large number of animals it is essential that they have the knowledge to look after them and also understand any regulations that may be relevant to the types they are keeping.”
The defendant was also subject to prosecution proceedings by Bedford Borough Council’s Trading Standards team, pleading guilty to four offences under Animal By Products legislation, with these offences relating to failings to secure and dispose of carcases representing serious failures to reduce the risks of the spread of disease to the public and other animals.
Many of the animals signed over into the RSPCA care have been found new homes – and new homes are being sought for the remainder.
Sentencing | for the eight RSPCA offences, he was sentenced to a 12-week immediate custodial sentence on each count to run concurrently and for the four Trading Standards charges a sentence of 8 weeks immediate custody to run concurrently with the 12 weeks already imposed. He was also ordered to pay £1,000 towards prosecution costs for the RSPCA and also the same to amount towards council costs and ordered to pay a surcharge of £115. He was disqualified from keeping all animals for a period of 20 years and cannot apply to terminate the order for a period of 10 years.
CONVICTED (2018) | Martin Veysey, born c. 1955, of Albert Court, Albert Street, Bridgwater TA6 7ET – breached a previous life ban on keeping animals imposed on him in 2011
Veysey pleaded guilty to six charges under the Animal Welfare Act and the Cattle Identification Regulations on Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at Taunton Crown Court.
Veysey was banned for life from keeping animals in 2011 after he was prosecuted for causing unnecessary suffering and failing to provide appropriate care for his animals.
The latest prosecution was brought by Devon, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service and related to the purchase, transport and ownership of cattle obtained from markets in the South West.
Charges also related to a pony and an American bulldog owned by Veysey.
Veysey was also found guilty for failing to report and record the movements of cattle and failing to surrender the passports of cattle to Defra’s British Cattle Movement Service.
The court heard that the prosecution followed an investigation by Trading Standards officers.
Officers gathered intelligence from several sources including from members of the public, who responded to adverts he had placed to sell animals, as well as the RSPCA, livestock auctioneers and landowners who had witnessed his involvement with animals.
In sentencing Veysey, the judge told him that ‘the legislation is intended to protect animals from cowboys like you’ and warned him any further breaches would mean that he would go to prison.
Sentencing: eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years. Costs of £2,115.
CONVICTED (2018) | William Douglas Dolley, born March 1969, of Holwell Farm, Collipriest, Tiverton, Devon EX16 4PT – let a calf starve and left dead sheep in a field
Dolley was caught with piles of bones, dead animals and sick cattle on his farm in Devon twice in 11 months by trading standards inspectors.
He had been due to stand trial over a previous inspection in 2017.
But when a vet and trading standards officer returned to Holwell Farm a on 7 February 2018 they found two dead sheep lying unburied in fields where other animals were grazing.
They also discovered piles of rubbish, old bones and an emaciated black bullock calf lying on its side in a cattle shed with no food or water.
Its condition was so bad that it was killed immediately on the orders of the vet.
Dolley admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the bullock, three charges of failing to dispose of carcasses and one of failing to prevent animals having access to by-products.
Sentencing: Jailed for 18 weeks. Banned from keeping animals for five years (expires December 2023).
CONVICTED (2018) | Farhad Khalil Ahmed of Lydney, Gloucestershire GL15 – carried out illegal slaughter of a male sheep
Ahmed, owner of Lydney Hand Car Wash, Newerne Street, Lydney GL15 5RF, was convicted under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 with causing unnecessary suffering to a ram.
Ahmed admitted to being filmed cutting a ram’s throat as an accomplice helped him restrain the animal. The video, originally obtained by Caerphilly Trading Standards officers in an unrelated investigation, was passed to Gloucestershire Trading Standards who interviewed Ahmed for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Ahmed entered a guilty plea and was convicted of a single offence of causing unnecessary suffering to the ram under Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Cllr Dave Norman, cabinet member for public protection said “I would like to congratulate our Trading Standards Animal Health Team for bringing this offender to justice. This animal clearly suffered a horrific death at the hand of this person and his accomplices.”
“Our Trading Standards team work to ensure the strict welfare standards for farm animals are followed at all times.”
Sentencing: 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. Ordered to pay the full prosecution costs of £1,700 and an £85 victim surcharge.
