A self-proclaimed ‘TikTok star’ that kept pets in appalling conditions has been banned from owning animals for six years.
Navdeep Singh, of Culver Road, Stockport, was sentenced at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on March 28 after pleading guilty to seven offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The 38-year-old had four French bulldogs which were found in a ‘faeces-strewn yard’ and a further four French bulldog puppies were discovered malnourished in a garage, according to the RSPCA.
Inspector Heather Morris also found five Bengal cats in an aviary, where temperatures had soared to 36C on June 16 last year. Singh’s actions followed warnings issued by the RSPCA to clear up the yard and cattery and take one of the puppies to the vet.
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However, he failed to rectify the problems — so when RSPCA inspector Beth Fazakerley attended Singh’s home with two police officers at a later date — they found the adult bulldogs, Luna, Rocky, Daisy and Blue, in the filthy yard. While the puppies appeared underweight as their ribs were visible and they were hunched up among ripped up cardboard and faeces in the garage attached to the property.
Inspector Fazakerley also witnessed five cats housed in four separate rooms in a back garden aviary during a searing heatwave. Singh also did not provide any clean water for them to drink
“The defendant said that he was working a lot on TikTok and was making large amounts of money,” Inspector Morris told the court. “He said he was quite busy and was planning on selling the house as his relationship had broken down with his girlfriend. He admitted that he wasn’t doing enough for the animals.”
Singh repeated his claim that he was a ‘TikTok star’ to Inspector Fazakerley. She explained: “The first thing I noticed as I walked through the main door of the aviary was the extreme heat - within seconds I was sweating profusely and just walking around was uncomfortable.
“I took the temperature on my temperature gun and in the cleanest area for the cats it reached 36C. It was cooler in the rear, but there was virtually nowhere for the cats to lie down that was comfortable and clean from faeces and urine. Throughout the enclosure there was straw, piles of rubbish, empty bin bags, old food wrappers and a heat lamp switched on in a crate.”
All the animals were seized and taken to Greater Manchester Animal Hospital with the defendant later signing over the puppies and two litters of two kittens who were born after the cats were removed from the property. A vet’s expert report stated that all four of the puppies were very thin, scoring one out of nine on a body condition score when an ideal weight would be four or five.
The vet added: “It is clear the cats’ accommodation was excessively hot and would have had a negative impact on these animals, particularly as they had no access to water.
“While the temperatures measured in the puppies’ accommodation were within the acceptable range, French bulldogs are extremely susceptible to heat stroke due to their brachycephalic conformation and this can have a significant, negative welfare impact and even be fatal if left untreated.
“A number of the adults were seen panting and the original call to the police related to the dogs being distressed due to the heat. Brachycephalic dogs must be kept at cooler temperatures than other dog breeds. They should actively be kept out of the sun, have access to fresh clean water and ventilation, such as a fan.”
As well as the ban on owning animals, Magistrates fined the defendant £8,199.98 and ordered that he pay the RSPCA prosecution costs of £1,086.98.
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