Puppy farm raid pair banned

The lives of dozens of poorly dogs have been saved after they were rescued from a puppy farm and found loving homes.

Almost 60 dogs were seized by the Scottish SPCA from Balnamoon farm, near Keith, but, with two of them pregnant, the animal welfare charity landed up caring for 78 dogs in total.

The Moray puppy farmer who kept the disease-ridden dogs in filthy conditions told investigators he was “only required to provide food, water and shelter” to the animals.

Samuel Ronald Hessin averted his eyes as footage of the squalid conditions was played in court.

The 49-year-old and his son, Samuel Arthur Hessin, 22, posed as legitimate breeders, but the animals they sold were suffering clear signs of neglect.

At Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday the pair were banned from keeping dogs for a decade.

The court heard that the family had moved from Ireland for a better life and had taken over Balnamoon farm.

But with failing finances the younger Hessin had taken up a Northern Irish friend’s offer of some dogs to sell on.

The animals were imported to Scotland but the Hessins pretended to buyers that they were family pets. The dogs were sold under a variety of fake names and multiple phone numbers on free websites such as Gumtree.

Lawyers for the pair said it was an “amateur operation which spiralled out of control”.

Fiscal depute Shamielah Ghafar told the court the operation was uncovered after a woman and her daughter went to view a puppy sold by the pair.

The women declined to buy the dog as it looked and smelled “filthy”, but contacted the SSPCA.

Police and vets went to the farm and found dogs in faeces-strewn conditions, with some locked in cages.

She said: “Many adult dogs were kept in small crates which were filled with faecal matter and straw, and had little room to move.

“On the direction of a veterinary witness the decision was made to remove all the animals to prevent further suffering.”

Ms Ghafar told the court that it would have been apparent that all the dogs needed treatment.

Hessin Senior had previously admitted failing to meet the environmental needs of the animals

between May and September 2019.

He further admitted selling dogs without a licence between December 2018 and September 2019.

His son admitted two different charges of

misleading trading practices and causing the animals unnecessary suffering between December 2018 and September 2019.

Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov banned both men from keeping animals for 10

years and ordered them to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work, the maximum allowed.

They are also banned from seeking compensation from the SSPCA for the seized dogs.

NEGLECT: Samuel Arthur Hessin, left, and his father, right, bred puppies at a Keith farm.