A woman who left 35 puppies and a dog in a dilapidated caravan covered in faeces and without food or water in Sussex has been given a suspended sentence over numerous animal welfare offences.
One dachshund puppy died days after being rescued from the mobile home in Eastbourne and other canines were treated by vets for malnourishment.
Micaela Anderson-Letts was sentenced on Tuesday to 24 months in prison, suspended for two years, for causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs, along with 15 other animal-related crimes.
These included faking importation documents for underage puppies and selling puppies without a licence in 2020, with advertisements showing she had the potential to make £173,000 from the sales while misleading potential buyers over the reasons they were being sold.
On 26 July 2021, police attended a car park after members of the public reported a large number of dogs in a caravan left in direct sunlight with the windows closed.
After the sentencing, Sussex police investigating officer Marie Jenner said: “The whole floor was covered in faeces and urine-soaked cardboard.
“There were exposed wires, nails and screws, and broken pieces of wood and tools throughout. The conditions were completely uninhabitable.
“The dogs were retrieved from the caravan and placed in makeshift pens where we provided them with bowls of water. They were drinking uncontrollably, which gave an [indication] of their desperation to rehydrate.
“A vet arrived on scene and explained that the dogs were suffering – and would continue to suffer, if left in these conditions – and therefore they were seized under the Animal Welfare Act.”
Jenner added: “It transpired that Anderson-Letts had previously been issued an animal banning order and showed complete disregard to the judicial system by continuing to involve herself with puppies.”
Sussex police said the dachshund puppy’s cause of death was starvation and dehydration and it was one of 14 young dogs treated in a veterinary hospital.
Body-worn camera footage released by Sussex police shows officers rescuing the mix of labradors, dachshunds and French bulldogs and them desperately drinking water from a big bowl.
During sentencing at Kingston crown court in south-west London, Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey said: “What is clear, investigations show Micaela Anderson-Letts was part of a Facebook group advertising these dogs for sale.
“It was clear she had these dogs for no other reason than to sell them on and make a profit.”
Police also discovered two dead pigs in the garden of the defendant’s then home in Surbiton, south-west London, on 19 May 2020 during a Covid lockdown. She told officers the animals had died of illness seven days earlier.
Officers also found remains and other pigs still alive in hot sunshine in a pen too small for them to lie down in, and without food or water.
The judge added: “On the one hand what you did was so disgraceful and uncaring to those animals in our view, it should be an immediate custodial sentence.”
However, the sentence was suspended for two years, taking into account she has a young child and caring responsibilities.
Anderson-Letts, of Sunbury-on-Thames, was also ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work and up to 20 days of rehabilitative activity, and was banned from owning animals or applying for licences involving animals.
Providing mitigation for Anderson-Letts, David Langwallner said: “The most important mitigation is there is some evidence that she is rebuilding her life, the responsibility of having a one-year-old child and being de facto carer for [her] 72-year-old mother.”
Langwallner added that up until her offending, she was a person of good character and the judge also acknowledged evidence of her autism.
