A man and a woman have been handed a suspended prison sentence and disqualified from keeping dogs for 10 years, after it was found they neglected 21 dogs and ran an illegal puppy farm in Wales.
They both pleaded guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act and appeared in Swansea Magistrates Court on Friday 11 February.
All 21 dogs were found by RSPCA officers in March 2021, living in hazardous and unhygienic conditions.
Thankfully, the pups are now safe in RSPCA rescue centres, and many have even found forever families.
Inspector Gemma Cooper, who led the investigation, said: "I was horrified by the animals' overall health condition and the environments in which they were being kept."
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She added: "It also appeared that a small scale puppy farm was being run from this location.
"There were three litters and a heavily pregnant bitch, who later went on to have six puppies.
"The conditions the dogs were kept in were not acceptable and the owners were failing to meet their needs.
"One pen for example - which had eight dogs in - had no space for them to get away from each other, had no comfortable area for them to rest, and was full of urine and faeces.
"Pens lacked sleeping areas and, in one pen, a head lamp was placed dangerously as it hung very close to a water bowl.
"Temperature control was lacking in all the pens as was clean, comfortable bedding and all the pens looked and smelt dirty.
"Also there were no sufficient beds and water bowls for the number of dogs to prevent competition and all the adult dogs needed veterinary treatment for various ailments.
"When bringing the dogs out of the first two pens none of them knew how to walk on a lead and they were all terrified of the outside world.
"It was clear from their reactions that they have not been properly socialised and spend the majority of their time locked up in these pens and away from life."
Both defendants were handed a nine-week prison sentence on each charge to run concurrently, which was suspended for 12 months, ordered to pay a £128 victim surcharge, and were disqualified from keeping dogs for 10 years.
One person was handed a rehabilitation activity requirement of 15 days and ordered to pay a £120 fine.
The second person was handed a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement order and was ordered to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work.
Thankfully, all of the dogs are now safe and have been taken to RSPCA centres for rehabilitation and rehoming.
One of the rescue pups, Flo, was taken to West Hatch Animal Centre, in Somerset, where she went from strength to strength, and her personality shone through more each day.
Inspector Cooper added: "When I first saw her she was extremely underweight and cowered in the corner.
"Her ribs and spine were visible and she looked pink where she had fur loss and her skin was red and inflamed.
"There were two bowls on the floor of her pen which were empty.
"I am delighted that Flo found her forever home - her transformation is just amazing.
"Thanks to a lot of love and care from staff at the animal centre all of the dogs have transformed into happy and healthy dogs and it is lovely to know they are in their forever homes."
If you would like to adopt any of the dogs in RSPCA's care, visit their Find A Pet page.
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