Two men who put their dogs through a 'horrific' and 'painful' ear-cropping procedure exchanged sickening messages about their plans, a court heard.
Joshua Ryan Kwiathawski, 25, and Jamie Evans, 30, pleaded guilty to allowing the illegal practice to be carried out on their bull-type dogs Riga and Ace after officers seized messages between the pair discussing hiding the animals to avoid being reported. They also failed to seek care for their dogs' injuries following the crop.
In a series of texts on Whatsapp, Evans asked when he could 'post a pic' of Riga, to which Kwiathawski replied: “Not for 4-6 weeks bro, no one in your gaff you don’t know," Wigan Magistrates Court heard as the pair were sentenced on Tuesday (May 9).
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Evans asked: “What do you mean mate”, and Kwiathawski replied: “Don’t have anyone in your house or seeing the dog you don’t know, if they see fresh wounds they could report you.
“Only post on your private snapchat mate people who you trust and if anyone asks obvs the dog's imported.”
The court heard that the RSPCA became aware after police seized Kwiathawski’s phone in an unrelated offence, which contained photos of Ace with cropped ears. Two warrants were later carried out by the RSPCA and police where a second phone was seized which contained the distressing messages between the two men talking about Ace and Riga having their ears illegally cropped.
There were photos on their phones of both dogs as puppies with full ears, as well as images of the dogs after having the procedure.
The court also heard that Kwiathawski had advised Evans to put talc on Riga’s ears, with one voicenote saying: “Once you've took the scabs off and talced his ears he will look exactly like Ace does on that picture where his ears are dead white and they are up tall and you can hardly see any scabs. It just looks like loads of talc on the outsides of his ears. That’s what it will look like bro.”
Evans replied saying: “Sure he’s took this crop too far back on him.”
Kwiathawski, of Rose Avenue, Wigan, and Evans, of no fixed abode, were handed a 23-week prison sentence and banned them from keeping animals for 15 years.
Speaking after sentencing, RSPCA inspector Emma Dingley said: “Ear cropping is a horrific practice which has absolutely no benefits for the dogs and can cause them lifelong health, behavioural and social problems.
“This is done purely for cosmetic purposes and sadly can lead to puppies being sold for much more money - but we’d urge the public and anyone looking to buy a puppy to remember that this is an illegal procedure which has hugely negative impacts for the dogs themselves.”
The dogs are now in RSPCA care.
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