Puppy farmer brothers jailed for animal neglect

Two men who treated puppies with “unimaginable misery” have been jailed for nine months each.

The two brothers ran a puppy farm business out of Glasgow where the Scottish SPCA discovered the animals living in unsanitary conditions and in poor health.

Tom Mongan, 28, and brother William Mongan, 40, sold dogs online from rented Airbnb properties in the city for £1,000 each.

The brothers were found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court of causing unnecessary suffering and were banned from keeping animals for 10 years.

The charges spanned from December 2020 to February 2021 during the "puppy boom" in the Covid pandemic.

SSPCA inspectors and police raided the properties in January 2021 and found the men with eight puppies.

The dogs were in poor shape and were discovered living in unsanitary conditions.

The court heard from Thomas Young who had travelled to an Airbnb address to pay up to £1,600 for a puppy.

Mr Young said he quickly noticed it was sick with diarrhoea and was overly tired, with the vets suspecting parvovirus.

The decision was made to euthanise the puppy days later due to its ill health, the court was told.

Prosecutor Gail Campbell said: "Mr Young contacted Tom Mongan on Facebook to tell him the puppy had died but he blocked him."

Miss Campbell added: "The vet thought that the dog was caused unnecessary suffering."

The court heard of many instances of similar abuse where customers had bought puppies that later died due to their mistreatment.

'Unimaginable misery'

The court was also told that Tom Mongan had an identical previous conviction in Northern Ireland from October 2020 and was disqualified from owning animals for 10 years there.

Sheriff Mark McGuire, said: "Each of you pled guilty to what can be described as animal cruelty on 11 separate dogs.

"It must have been obvious the dogs were unwell and the conditions they were kept in was poor - you took no steps to get help for these animals.

"The motivation was for financial gain - each dog was priced at over £1,000.

"It was clearly greed and it brought unimaginable misery to those who unfortunately bought them."

Atlanta Jack, defending Tom Mongan, said he was "apologetic for the upset and inconvenience caused."

Patrick Brechany, defending William Mongan, said his client was "remorseful" and "regretful."