Trio sentenced over 'vile' dog ear cropping trade

Lyla was one of the dogs whose ears were cropped

A man has been jailed and two women have received suspended prison terms for their roles in illegally cropping dogs' ears as part of a "vile" criminal enterprise.

Stoke-on-Trent trio Alexander Johnson, Holly Dunn and Amanda Whitehouse were sentenced at the city's crown court after pleading guilty to animal cruelty offences.

Johnson, 35, was sentenced to 12 months in prison while Dunn, 29, and Whitehouse, 56, were handed suspended sentences of 23 weeks and nine weeks respectively.

The RSPCA prosecution came after an investigation was sparked by an undercover report by BBC Panorama, which unearthed incidents of ear cropping – a practice made illegal in the UK in 2006.

During Monday's hearing, Judge Robert Smith described it as "an organised and sophisticated criminal enterprise".

Johnson had called himself an "icon" in the dog world and the court heard he cropped dogs' ears for £450.

Judge Smith said Johnson, who had a previous conviction for cropping dogs' ears, showed "complete and utter deliberate disregard" for the puppies involved.

The judge said it was a "wholly sickening and inhuman practice" and "barbaric mutilation".

He described the criminal enterprise as "a vile trade" which was "absolutely abhorrent to any right-thinking person or owner".

Rain was one of the dogs whose ears were cropped, a banned practice the judge called "sickening"

Johnson, of Elmsmere Road, Stoke-on-Trent, was handed his prison term after pleading guilty to causing a prohibited procedure to be carried out on a protected animal and breaching a lifetime disqualification order.

Dunn, of Dentdale Close in the city admitted causing a prohibited procedure to be carried out on a protected animal and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Her 23-week jail term was suspended for 12 months and she was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and handed a lifetime ban from keeping animals.

Whitehouse, of Barry Avenue, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Her nine-week prison sentence was also suspended for 12 months and she was ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid work and given a 10-year ban from keeping animals.

Charlotte Bailey, 29, of Causeley Gardens, Stoke-on-Trent, and Thomas Taffe, 29, also of Causeley Gardens, both pleaded guilty to multiple animal cruelty offences and will be sentenced on 4 September.