Monster behind Scotland’s biggest puppy farm caged
AN ILLEGAL breeder who kept 150 dogs in squalid conditions on what was described as Scotland’s largest ‘battery’ puppy farm has been jailed.
Frank James, 53, was also banned from keeping animals for life.
The illegal breeder was already banned from keeping animals when his farm was raided. He appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for sentencing yesterday and was give a nine-month prison term after being found guilty of animal cruelty charges.
Accomplice Michelle Wood, 29, from Macduff, Banffshire, who was also convicted of animal cruelty charges, was ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and given a ten-year ban.
When officers from the Scottish SPCA raided the pair’s farm near Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, they found dogs and puppies packed into cattle sheds, infested with lice and suffering from sores.
SSPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: ‘The Scottish SPCA has been picking up the pieces from Frank James’s greed-driven puppy farming operation for several years and we welcome the court’s judgment that his offences merit a jail sentence.
‘His disregard for the welfare of animals under his care shows he is devoid of any empathy towards them and, when he is released from jail, we hope he is never in a position to own or sell animals again.’
Mr Flynn said tougher sentences need to be brought in following a Scottish Government consultation about increasing the severity of punishments for animal cruelty offenders. He added: ‘Our message to the public remains the same – if you want a dog, adopt and don’t shop. But if you must buy a puppy, do your homework and make sure you buy from a responsible breeder.
‘The only way puppy farms will disappear, and people like Frank James will stop profiteering at the expense of intensively bred dogs, is if public demand stops.’
The SSPCA’s special investigations unit and officers from Police Scotland raided East Mains of Ardlogie Farm in November 2017.
During two operations they found sheds packed with breeding bitches and suffering dogs with painful skin conditions and matted hair.
Officers also discovered the half-charred remains of dead puppies in the back of a burntout van and seized 150 dogs.
It follows a similar raid on James’ farm in 2013. A year later James, of Banff, and two of his relatives pleaded guilty to animal welfare offences and were banned from keeping more than two dogs for three years.
At the time of their conviction last month, an undercover investigator said: ‘We believe this was the largest-scale puppy farming operation in Scotland.
‘The conditions these dogs were being kept in were absolutely disgraceful.
‘It was immediately evident these were not being kept as pets and the premises was effectively a battery farm for pups.’
‘Disregard for the welfare of animals’