CONVICTED (2019) | puppy farmer Carole Rushmer, born 8 November 1959, of Home Farm, Low Road, Norwich NR14 6PZ
Carole Rushmer has been banned from buying or selling dogs for two years for her involvement in a family-run puppy farm.
She admitted causing unnecessary suffering to four dogs she kept at her farm in Thurlton in Norwich.
Three other family members – Zoe Rushmer, Michael Rushmer and Jacob Murphy – have already been sentenced for their part in a scam, which netted more than £300,000.
The puppies, which have since been rehomed, showed signs of worms and had fur matted with excrement and burns on their skin, magistrates were told.
The court was told Rushmer’s late husband Michael had started a puppy farm to clear debts and later involved his daughter Zoe Rushmer, her partner Jacob Murphy and later his son, also called Michael Rushmer.
She admitted having provided premises for the puppy farm in Thurlton, though her lawyer said she had been coerced into it and was subjected to violence.
RSPCA inspector Amy Pellegrini, who worked on the case for four years, said some puppies were “emaciated”.
The RSPCA removed 74 dogs including several pregnant bitches, one of whom had 93 puppies.
“Being that age, they were very lucky to be alive in those conditions,” she said, speaking outside court.
“That’s not something that we see every day. To see something like that is very upsetting.”
Jacob Murphy, Michael Rushmer and Zoe Rushmer were sentenced in June 2019 for having sold ill or dying dogs they pretended had come from a family environment.
They kept some of the 74 animals in cages, dark sheds and a caravan in temperatures up to 30C (86F), Norwich Crown Court was told.
Murphy and Michael Rushmer were each jailed for 42 months, while Zoe Rushmer was given a two-year suspended jail sentence. They were all banned from keeping animals for life.
Sentencing | 14-week curfew; banned from buying or selling dogs for two years (expired 2021).