Trial begins at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court for Brant Broughton breeding business directors accused of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs

The trial of four people charged with causing more than 80 dogs unnecessary suffering at a breeding business has begun today (June 2).

Amy Allen, 41, of Jericho Road, Balderton; Bridgett Dickens, 61, of The Clays, Brant Broughton; Peter Dickens, 65, of Yeadley, Ashbourne; and Edward Swindells, 48, of The Clays, Brant Broughton, are on trial at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.

Each face multiple charges of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs and breaching their duty to ensure their welfare — through failing to provide veterinary attention for skin, eye, ear, and dental conditions, failing to address the emotional and behavioural needs of the dogs, failing to provide an adequate diet for the dogs, and failing to provide adequate housing/bedding for the dogs.

Each charge applies to between four and 84 dogs in the defendants’ care.

It relates to the dog breeding businesses under the names Little Rascals and Puppies at Home, which operated from kennels at The Dairies farm in Brant Broughton.

A warrant was carried out by police at the property on November 13, 2018, following intelligence — 37 videos and 111 images — supplied to the RSPCA in July that year.

Today, the trial heard evidence from the RSPCA inspector who was the case manager for the society’s investigation, and who had arranged the warrant with police.

He described a team of more than 90 people being involved in the warrant operation, including 21 vets, radiographers, and people to transport seized animals, which lasted from 8.30am to 6.30pm on November 13.

During the warrant, the defendants who were present — the exception being Amy Allen — were cautioned, and examinations were carried out on the dogs at the property by teams of vets and assistants.

A total of 374 of dogs were on the property and examined, with 95 seized as they were found to be suffering. Another 22 were in need of treatment under general anaesthetic and one in five dogs were found to be in need of an urgent veterinary check-up.

One dog had an infected abscess on its shoulder, the court heard, and many had dental and behavioural concerns.

The charges brought against the defendants, relate to a total of 27 dogs found to be physically suffering.

At the time, the business’ licence had expired at the end of the previous month, and despite much correspondence with North Kesteven District Council, the business had not successfully applied for another due to errors in their applications.

Some dogs were also housed on wood shavings, which is extremely dusty and was believed to have caused the eye and skin issues some dogs were affected by.

The defendants’ defence questioned why the RSPCA had not approached the business and given the owners a chance to rectify any issues before going straight for a warrant — however the inspector said it would not have been possible due to the scale of the operation and the number of animals.

He acknowledged that on an initial walk around the site looked clean and tidy — although “you would be overwhelmed by the number of dogs” to look at — and it was only upon getting close to the dogs that the issues could be seen.

He denied that there had ever been an expectation to seize a large number of dogs — and that if when the team had turned up there had been no issues with the animals they would have accepted that as the outcome.

The defence also questioned why the inspector had not contacted the vet used by the kennels, and why he had not approached the council for information about previous inspections carried out as part of the licencing process.

The trial continues.