Illegal puppy breeder may now keep sheepdogs for hill farming

AN illegal puppy farmer who has faced death threats after being convicted of cruelty to 21 dogs will be allowed to keep dogs for hill farming after overturning a court ban.

Richard Samuel Morgan Jones was given a series of nine-week suspended prison sentences at Aberystwyth Justice Centre in February, but reappeared before Swansea Crown Court to appeal against his sentence.

He had been found guilty of two charges of unlicensed breeding, and 21 charges of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs in his care, after Ceredigion Council brought the prosecution last June.

Tom Scapens, for respondent Ceredigion Council, told Swansea Crown Court the 31-year-old, of Capel y Groes, Llanwnnen, near Lampeter, was visited by officers from Ceredigion Council in June last year, at his home at another property he used in Creuddyn Bridge, Lampeter.

They discovered more than 100 dogs and puppies, in squalid conditions, with some of the dogs having severe skin conditions.

In addition to a ban on keeping animals he was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

Matthew Paul, for Jones, told the court his ability to care for the dogs had been affected by depression, and the need to care for the family farm.

Seeking to reduce the conviction, Mr Paul said Williams had 1,000 head of sheep on his hill farm, for which he needed dogs, and that his family had eight sheepdogs to that end.

Recorder Peter Griffiths QC said the ban would apply to dealing in dogs, which would run for six years.