A Haverfordwest woman has been disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years and given a suspended custodial sentence after she failed to ensure the needs of 30 poodles – all but one of which were found to be suffering .
Alison Silk appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on 25 January and pleaded guilty to four offenses under the Animal Welfare Act. He caused unnecessary suffering to 20 poodle dogs by not providing adequate nutrition for the animals’ needs, caused unnecessary suffering to five poodle dogs, by not providing veterinary treatment for serious illnesses teeth, and caused unnecessary suffering to 29 poodle dogs by failing to provide any or adequate repairs. Finally, he did not take steps to ensure that the needs of the 30 poodles were met to the extent required by good practice).
The sentencing took place on Tuesday 20 February at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court, and Silk was given a disqualification order, banning him from keeping any animals for 10 years. He was given a 26-week custodial sentence suspended for 12 months for the three unnecessary suffering offenses and he was given a 16-week custodial sentence suspended for 12 months for the fourth offence.
Silk was also ordered to undertake 10 days of rehabilitation at the probation service and the seven dogs that had not yet been signed were placed in the custody of the RSPCA. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154.
Silk appeared unrepresented in court. The District Judge recommended that advice be obtained from the duty solicitor but this was not taken. In his mitigation, he told the court he was sorry and spoke about his family circumstances and health issues.
A statement given to the court from RSPCA Inspector Keith Hogben, who attended the Haverfordwest property on September 4 last year, said when he entered the front door, he smelled “a very unpleasant smell of faeces and dog urine”.
Inspector Hogben added: “The kitchen door was closed and when we opened the door we were greeted by a number of dogs, the dogs were all barking and each of the dogs was heavily mated.”
He was next shown in a conservatory. “The room was very hot with dogs in cages and lots of feces both fresh and trampled on the floor,” he said. “Any bed in the kennels was soiled and there was no water in this room for any of the dogs.
“Again the dogs in this room had very thick coats that were contaminated with dirt. I didn’t see any windows open. We were then shown the dogs at the back of the property which were kept in two dog runs.
“The back garden is covered in dog poo and clearly hasn’t been cleaned for weeks, by the conservatory door is a wheelbarrow with dog poo in it.”
Inspector Hogben said: “Inside the kennel there was a lot of dirt and almost no blankets in the sleeping area, just a couple of plastic dog beds.
“In the other kennel there were five male dogs all with matted coats and again no access to water, this kennel also had two rabbit type water bottles on the bars but they were both empty.
“There has been a large accumulation of excrement in this kennel that has not been cleaned for a very long time. The door to the kennel cannot be opened fully due to the accumulation of excrement. These dogs were let out. by Alison Silk and started they drank from a bucket containing green water.”
A vet in attendance confirmed that all the dogs had to be removed due to their body conditions and their environment. A witness statement was given in court by a vet who examined 30 dogs at the RSPCA Merthyr Tydfil Veterinary Clinic, between 5 and 7 September 2023.
He said: “All the dogs have severe mats on most of their bodies with faeces and urine inside the mats and a very strong odor of faeces and urine.
“The other dog had some small clip patches indicating a slight attempt at repair but it was still heavy with one ear wrapped around the side of his head.
“Three of the male dogs – had a mat directly at the opening of their prepuce (foreskin), meaning they always peed on the mat and couldn’t get their genitals out, and one had a urine-soaked mat on his prepuce which, when removed. , revealed a spot of urine heating.
“A lot of the dogs have big mats under their chins that are soaked in water, because they can’t drink without soaking the mats in water.
“Seven of the dogs had live fleas on examination. All dogs but one were underweight, with four scoring 1/9 on the body conditioning scale and 16 scoring 2/9.”
Many of the dogs required medical procedures, the court heard. The vet added: “Twelve have severe dental disease and are likely to require tooth extraction. Seven others have at least moderate dental disease and would benefit from having their teeth cleaned and assessed under general anaesthetic.
“Seventeen had signs of eye disease such as swelling of the conjunctiva, loss of hair around the eyes and inflammation of the periocular tissues, or discharge from one or both eyes.
“Many have mats hanging over their eyes and some have mats formed between the hair on their upper and lower eyelids in at least one eye, partially blocking their eyes. The most The likely cause of the eye issues seems to me to be local irritation from the matts or level of dirt and urine in the environment, but I can’t rule out an infectious cause.”
It has been reported that all the dogs are flea treated and wormed and vaccinated as well.
The vet added: “Where possible, the fur is trimmed to allow for better movement and comfort, as the degree of matting in almost all of these dogs is severe enough that it limits joint movement and the weight of the mats pulls on the skin. and causes discomfort.”
Additional repairs were carried out at animal centers and boarding establishments. Five male and one female poodles went to Greenacres Animal Rescue for rehoming, and the rest were taken into the care of RSPCA centers and RSPCA branches for rehoming. The final seven dogs which following the hearing were signed over to the RSPCA will now be returned.
Following the hearing, Inspector Hobgen said: “We would like to thank everyone involved in this case, in particular Pembrokeshire County Council’s dog warden Sally Bland, Greenacres Rescue, several branches of the RSPCA, and members of the public who reported this. incident.”
