Suspended jail terms for Essex illegal pet shop couple
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Two people have been given suspended prison sentences for running an unlicensed pet shop in Essex and illegally cropping and splinting dogs’ ears.
Tibor Baranyi, 19, and Anita Lodine-Gombkoto, 43, both admitted a charge of keeping the shop at The Orchards, Shalford Green without a licence, and two charges of causing unneccessary suffering to a puppy.
When RSPCA officers first attended the pet shop they found a dog with his ears cropped and splinted, a process which forces the ears to grow upwards instead of down.
Baranyi and Lodine-Gombkoto, both from Rotten End, Wethersfield, were each banned from keeping animals for 10 years and sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment for each offence to run concurrently, suspended for a year, during a sentencing hearing at Colchester Magistrates’ Court.
They were also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £1,783 each.
The pair cannot apply to lift the animal ownership ban for at least four years.
Speaking after the sentencing, RSPCA chief inspector Mark Thompson said: “When we first attended this property we found four English bulldogs, one French bulldog and two doberman puppies in unhygienic conditions. They were cramped in small cages which were sodden with faeces and urine.
“The RSPCA is opposed to the mutilation of animals for cosmetic purposes. Procedures such as tail docking and ear-cropping do not benefit the animals in any way and can be detrimental to their health and welfare.”
Magistrates ordered all of the dogs in the pair’s care were handed over to the RSPCA for treatment and re-homing.
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