Dog lovers rejoice after "greedy" serial puppy farmer handed life ban
<p dir="ltr">A serial puppy offender has faced sentencing over 17 charges of animal cruelty, with both a lifetime ban and thousands of dollars in fees included in her punishment. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The 51-year-old woman from Bullsbrook, a northern suburb in Perth, had been breeding sick dogs in squalid conditions while charging their potential new owners thousands of dollars, and has now been banned from owning or breeding any more dogs for the rest of her life. </p>
<p dir="ltr">For her cruel actions, the Perth Magistrates Court handed her a “10-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, $25,000 in fines and an 18-month Intensive Supervision Order.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Additionally, the repeat offender - who has been in custody since April 14 after breaching the conditions of her bail - was also ordered to pay $24,279.11 in legal costs, as well as care and treatment costs totalling $18,241.01.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The charges were in relation to 23 dogs who were seized from her property in June 2020 - with sought-after breeds including the likes of Maltese, shih-tzus, poodles, and cavalier King Charles spaniels among them.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It wasn’t her first offence - instead her fourth - but her most recent was in 2014 when the RSPCA found 50 dogs at her former home, with 12 of the animals “hidden in a bunker three metres underground”. </p>
<p dir="ltr">This time around, she had been trying to conceal her crimes. As the court heard in December, she has been moving the dogs between three different Bullbrook addresses in a bid to avoid detection.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It was a display of “callous disregard or at least wilful blindness,” Magistrate Janie Gibbs said. </p>
<p dir="ltr">RSPCA WA had launched their investigation into her after a member of the public reported their concerns - they had been trying to purchase a puppy through Gumtree, and had grown suspicious when they were informed they couldn’t visit the dog at home. </p>
<p dir="ltr">From there, RSPCA WA seized 32 dogs from the woman’s property - of which there were four adult males, 19 adult females, and nine puppies - with the majority of them showing signs of being “underweight, unkempt, or unwell”, and nearly all of them suffering from “ear infections and/or dental disease and … matted, overgrown hair”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Two did not survive, and five of them were pregnant, giving birth to 22 more puppies in the weeks to follow. All have been in the foster care of RSPCA WA while the case went on. </p>
<p dir="ltr">As RSPCA WA Executive Manager Animal and Enforcement Operations Hannah Dreaver explained, the woman responsible had been operating a profit-driven business, and had been placing her income well above the welfare of the dogs in her care.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“This included using several locations to hide this operation from both authorities and potential puppy buyers,” she added.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“All were popular breeds selling for thousands of dollars. These dogs were making her a fortune and she was treating them as nothing more than money-making machines, having litter after litter without proper care.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Please, if you want to get a dog, consider adoption from the RSPCA or another reputable rescue organisation first. If you do decide to buy a puppy, never buy online and never buy sight unseen. </p>
<p dir="ltr">“Always meet your new puppy and its mum in the home where it’s being raised.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Images: RSPCA WA</em></p>
