Dog transporter Aaron Phillips from Co Down has been given an eight week jail term suspended for 12 months for causing unnecessary suffering to 44 dogs, including 28 puppies.
The Ballynahinch man who traded under the name AP Canine Transport, was prosecuted in England with the co-operation of animal welfare officers from Belfast City Council.
Police stopped his vehicle in in two vehicles Redditch, Worcestershire on December 8, 2020, and discovered inside 44 dogs in 12 cramped and filthy cages plus a substantial amount of cash.
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Phillips was arrested under The Proceeds of Crime Act, was brought before Belfast Departmental Magistrates’ Court last year. And on June 7, 2022, at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court he pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to animals.
Now the 39-year-old has been handed down a two month prison sentence which the court suspended for a year. He was also ordered to pay costs and has been disqualified from transporting or arranging the transportation of any animal for three years. More than £20,000 cash found in the van at the time of his arrest was forfeited.
Phillips was caught when he stopped in Redditch to offload 14 puppies and two adult dogs from his van in Redditch three weeks before Christmas 2020 and the dogs being transported were predominantly from Northern Ireland.
Investigators reported that some of the dogs were unable to stand up, sit or turn around and the floors of all cages were covered in a thin layer of sawdust which smelled of urine and faeces.
Police Community Support Officer Katie Hearnden Fellows said on the West Mercia Police neighbourhood alert system: "All the animals were seized under the Animal Welfare Act, and West Mercia took civil action against the owners of the dogs being transported.
"There were two civil court cases, which saw West Mercia successfully retain all but two of the dogs seized.
"The remaining dogs were also rehomed through the Dogs Trust or with the help of foster carers within West Mercia Police, many of whom retained the dogs once court cases were concluded."
Three other men arrested on suspicion of theft and later released on police bail, were not charged.
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