Couple sentenced over 'horrifying' puppy farm

About 60 dogs were seized from the Staffordshire property in October 2019

A married couple have been handed suspended prison sentences after making £105,000 from running an illegal puppy farm where dogs were kept in "cramped and rancid conditions".

Ian and Susan Wilson, of Mount Street in Hednesford, kept 60 dogs including chihuahuas and German shepherds at their property, which was raided by Staffordshire Police, Cannock Chase District Council and the Dogs Trust in October 2019, with all dogs being seized.

A search of their home revealed the presence of incubators and unlicensed hormone drugs used to increase the breeding output of the dogs, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

The pair pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading and were sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

They will also be restricted by a three-month curfew.

While the pair are allowed to keep any pets they own, they have been banned from breeding, rehoming or selling dogs.

'Horrifying reality'

The Wilsons had previously been warned about breeding and selling dogs without a licence, but continued to run the puppy farm for financial gain.

An investigation, led by Cannock Chase Council, found that the Wilsons had placed adverts for 425 dogs between 2017 and 2019 - business with an estimated sales value of £105,000.

Birmingham Crown Court heard that they used false names and addresses to set up multiple accounts to create advertisements with multiple online market places, in order to attempt to evade detection.

A spokesperson for Cannock Chase Council said: "The dogs were kept in cramped and rancid conditions, with no attempt being made to care for their health and wellbeing."

Among the 60 dogs, four litters of puppies were found, with a further three litters born shortly afterwards and further dogs were confirmed as being pregnant.

The court heard of one particular example where Ian Wilson had driven to Wales to obtain a German shepherd from an owner who had short term difficulties in caring for her.

"The Wilsons had told the owner a series of lies about how the dog would be part of their family, how it would be cared for and how it would spend time enjoying long walks on Cannock Chase," a council spokesperson said.

"The horrifying reality was very different. During the raid, the dog was found lying in faeces and urine.

"The length of her nails suggested she had never left the house in the eight months she had been held there.

"Instead, the Wilsons had effectively imprisoned her in a small internal enclosure and had used her to breed puppies for them to sell."

'Motivated purely by greed'

The Wilsons had also sold multiple puppies that were infected with parvovirus, some of which had died.

The sentencing judge noted that neither had shown any remorse for their criminal conduct which had been motivated by greed.

Following the sentencing, councillor John Preece said: "This was the worst case of animal neglect our environmental health officers have encountered.

"Motivated purely by greed, Ian Wilson and Sue Wilson went to great lengths to mask their offending and to deceive the people they sold the dogs to.

"The only good story to come from this is that every dog was successfully rehomed and, six years on, are in loving homes."

The Dogs Trust received 600 calls and emails from people wanting to rehome the dogs after they were seized, and by November 2019, they all had new homes.