I left my dogs with a pet sitter and they died in horrific way
AWOMAN whose dogs died in the care of a pet sitter has spoken out after the woman who caused her animals’ deaths was jailed.
Steph Pendleton, from Bridgend, left her dogs Lila and Phab in the care of Janine Maloney, who offered her services online as a pet sitter in Bridgend under the name Pet Patrol Club.
Believing Maloney to be an appropriate carer for the dogs while she went on holiday with her family, Steph left the dogs in her care in September 2021. But days later Steph returned to Maloney’s home to find the dogs had died.
It emerged that the dogs had been left in a car by Maloney on a particularly hot day. A post-mortem examination carried out on the dogs indicated they had died as a result of heat stroke and stress.
In written evidence, a vet said they believed that Lila and Phab “had been caused to suffer” and their needs “had not been met to the extent required by good practice”.
The evidence described how the dogs had been left in the car without any access to water and with no windows open or air-conditioning.
Animal-lover Steph said she was “heartbroken” by what happened and her life has never returned to normal.
After a long and complicated court process, Maloney was handed a 16-week suspended prison sentence at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court in February last year, but last week she was jailed for breaching the terms of her order.
Maloney – who was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to two female French bulldogs by failing to adequately ensure that they were provided with reasonable care and supervision once enclosed in a vehicle in circumstances adverse to their health and wellbeing – was then caught owning a dog and keeping animals despite being disqualified from doing so for five years.
Maloney appeared again at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on February 20 this year for the breaches after she pleaded guilty to breaching a ban between May and July 2023 and again in December 2023.
The RSPCA, prosecuting, told the court it had obtained evidence that Maloney was breaching her ban by owning a dog and was also caring for other people’s dogs.
The court heard that Maloney, who was represented by Shanahans Solicitors, was seen having a dog with her during a meeting, she was seen accepting two dogs and all of their belongings from a third party before driving off with them in her car, and
she was seen walking a dog believed to be hers.
Maloney, of Bridgend Road, Aberkenfig, received 18 weeks’ custody and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154. An order was put in place for her dog, Badger, to be rehomed within 14 days. She is also banned from keeping dogs from February 6, 2023.
Speaking after Maloney’s sentencing, Steph said she was baffled by how brazen Maloney had been in continuing to keep animals despite her suspended sentence.
She explained that members of the public had come forward to notify her
about Maloney’s flouting of the order, which led to Steph working with friends and the RSPCA to bring Maloney back to court.
“We got evidence that she was still working with dogs under a different name and offering her services to people locally,” Steph said. “I was informed by the local community. I found that she’d even started a new company transporting horses. I asked people she’d contacted to get in touch with the RSPCA and together we’ve managed to bring her back to court and she’s finally in prison.
“I’m very pleased. I feel I’ve now
got some justice for my girls. My big worry was she’d keep getting away with it. She flouted the law and everyone was beginning to say, ‘It was a total waste of time with the suspended sentence.’ I think justice matters and it was very important she was punished for me. I hope that my story can warn people to be vigilant when looking for pet sitters.”
In mitigation, it was heard that Maloney had a dependence on dogs for emotional support which has developed over years and there was no actual harm caused in the two breach cases.
Judge Charlotte Murphy told Maloney: “My view is this is a flagrant and deliberate breach where you have chosen to ignore the order. Your offending continued even after a summons was served upon you.”
RSPCA deputy chief inspector Gemma Cooper said: “We’d like to thank those who helped us in our investigations. It is important to reiterate to the public that we rely on them to tell us if someone has breached a ban. We depend on the public to be our eyes and ears and we take breaches of bans very seriously – as do the courts.”