Animal traffickers kept sick pets in filthy cages
RSPCA SWOOP UNCOVERED PLIGHT OF DOZENS OF DOGS AND CATS
TWO animal traffickers kept sick dogs and cats in filthy, cramped cages to sell for thousands of pounds from their Salford home.
Laura Kiseliova and Raimondas Titas imported dozens of breeds of designer dogs and cats from eastern Europe on illegal pet passports.
The animals, which caught diseases in the squalid conditions, were then sold on to unsuspecting members of the public.
The pair were sentenced to years behind bars at Manchester Crown Court in their absence, as they fled abroad before Thursday’s hearing.
They had previously pleaded guilty to a total of 29 charges, including several animal welfare offences.
RSPCA inspectors, police and trading standards found 41 dogs and eight cats when they searched their previous home in Prestwich on November 18, 2013.
They discovered the pair were trafficking dogs under the pet passport scheme, and selling them to members of the public under the company name Pets 313 Ltd.
Officers also found more than 40 pet passports which didn’t match the dogs at the property, suggesting they were passing off trafficked dogs as those bred in the UK.
The dogs who were found included French bulldogs and pugs, as well as pedigree cats, which were being sold for between £800 and £1,000 each.
The pair were charged with a number of offences, including failing to provide them with a suitable environment, and failing to provide veterinary care.
One of the RSPCA investigators leading the operation, who didn’t want to be named, said: “The front room of the property was being used to sell the animals to members of the public but it was when you entered the rest of the house that the scale of this operation became apparent.
“There were cages and pens containing different breeds of dogs in almost every room including a litter of puppies in a filthy ensuite bathroom upstairs. In a large garage at the back we found cages of animals stacked on top of each other.
“It was clear there were some cats and puppies that needed immediate veterinary treatment and sadly two of the puppies later died from parvovirus.
“This was a large money-making operation at the expense of the welfare of the animals and the unsuspecting members of public who thought they were buying healthy, happy puppies.”
Most of the animals were signed over into RSPCA care and have been rehomed.
Kiseliova, 39, was sentenced to a total of four years in prison while Titas, 37, was jailed for three years and six months.
The pair, both previously of Ladywell Avenue, Little Hulton, have also been banned from keeping pets for life.
Case vet David Martin said: “Many of the dogs and the cats that were removed from this address were suffering from serious infections which had the potential to make not only the puppies themselves ill but also were a significant risk both to other animals within the purchaser’s home and to the purchasers and their families.”
He urged anyone buying a puppy that then appears off-colour to see a vet urgently and, if it is possible the dog is from a puppy farm, to stress this so that any serious and fatal conditions are quickly picked up and not mistaken as being related to the stress of a new home.