Cruelty to animals is a crime the majority of people couldn't imagine committing, causing pain to an innocent and unknowing creature. But as we see too often there are a number of individuals with a lack of empathy who treat animals in the most appalling way.
Organisations such as the RSPCA work tirelessly in order to help animals who have been treated in such a way and to bring those responsible for inflicting that treatment to justice.
Here is a round up of criminal who have appeared in front of Welsh courts for causing cruelty and unnecessary suffering to animals
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Richard Coyle
Convicted killer Richard Coyle tortured a hedgehog by cutting its stomach so its intestines were exposed. It was the second act of animal cruelty committed by the sadist after he set fire to another hedgehog and cut off its limbs.
Richard Coyle, 56, was arrested at a house in Crosskeys, Caerphilly, on September 29 last year where they found a mutilated female hedgehog which was still alive but covered in blood and a "white creamy substance". The defendant was found in bed, naked from the waist down and was wearing prosthetic breasts.
The hedgehog was found in a wooden box on the bedside table, and had a wound to its stomach through which its intestines were protruding. The creature was taken to a vet and euthanised. It was also found to have suffered a cut to the abdomen and three limbs.
Coyle had also been jailed for two years in 2006 for the manslaughter of David Dowden, 35, who died in hospital from a slow bleed on the brain 18 days after Coyle fractured his skull with a single punch to the head.
The defendant was sentenced to a total of 18 months imprisonment for his most recent offences at Cardiff Crown Court. He was also made subject to a new order disqualifying him from owning or keeping an animal for 20 years.
David Thomas and Carwyn Fazakerley
Huntsman David Thomas and his son Carwyn Fazakerley, both of Cwm Bowydd Farm, Blaenau Ffestiniog, were jailed after 29 dogs were found to be living in filthy conditions. The father was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to failing to provide for the needs of 29 dogs - some of which were found tethered up and with no natural light.
The son was also sentenced for crimes against animals, and received 160 hours of community service. One of the offences was that Thomas and Fazakerley - who the court heard have links with a local hunt - did not take such steps to ensure that the needs of 29 dogs were met in that they did not provide the animals with a suitable environment.
The other offences for Thomas was that he did not ensure that the needs of two ferrets were met in that he did not provide the animals with a suitable environment and did not provide them with fresh clean drinking water at all times. He also caused unnecessary suffering to a hound by the rough handling and kicking of the dog. The offence was supported by video evidence taken by The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS).
Terence and Melanie Box
Cruel dog owners Terence and Melanie Box let their pet die after failing to take her to the vet even when a huge tumour started growing on her stomach. Jack Russell Terrier Tilly-May was left incredibly thin with an enormous ulcerated tumour that was around half the size of her entire body across her abdomen, but throughout her life was never seen by a vet who could have saved her.
The 13-year-old dog was treated terribly by her owners, of Brynawel Crescent, Swansea, who pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to their pet. A court heard from an RSPCA inspector that Tilly-May had never received any veterinary treatment, nor had she received any vaccinations or boosters. The ulcerated tumour she was left with was so big it would touch the ground when she would try to walk.
At Swansea Magistrates Court, Terence Box, 68, and Melanie Box, 46, were both sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months.
Julie Newcombe
Dog breeder Julie Newcombe, 42, subjected dogs to horrendous cruelty - depriving them of food and water - while also having the bodies of decomposing puppies at her home. Police visited Julie Newcombe's house in Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent and found she was keeping 90 dogs in "disgusting conditions" contaminated by faeces and urine.
Newcombe's vile treatment of the dogs which included Dachshunds, Labradors and French Bulldogs was so extreme that RSCPA officials said it was "amongst the worst [they] had encountered in 20 years". Officers even found a dead dog in a van outside and a number of decomposing puppies outside.
She denied one offence under the Animal Welfare Act but was found guilty of not ensuring the needs of the animals were met. District judge Sophie Toms said she would struggle to forget the images shown during the trial which she labelled "disgusting."
The defendant was banned from keeping dogs for five years at a sentencing at Newport Magistrates' Court. She was also given a 12-month community order requiring her to complete 20 days of women-specific programmes, and she was ordered to pay costs of £1,000 towards the prosecution.
Rhianne Saville
Rhianne Saville, 27, was banned from keeping all animals for five years after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. She was sentenced at Cardiff Magistrates' Court after the hearing was told how the dog called Dior was severely underweight and had been suffering.
She pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act - including causing unnecessary suffering to Dior by failing to adequately investigate or address the causes of her weight loss and poor bodily condition. She also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to Dior by failing to adequately investigate and address pressure sores to her hocks (heels).
As well as the ban on keeping animals Saville, of Cath Cob Close, Cardiff, was also sentenced to eight weeks prison, suspended for two years. She was also ordered to undertake a 10 day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and ordered to pay £400 costs.
Anthony Searl
Anthony Searl, 35, kept seven dogs in "dreadful" conditions — including a whippet locked in a cupboard without any food or water and covered in its own faeces. The Cardiff resident was caught by police after two dogs went outside and one was hit by a car.
PCSOs came across the two dogs on December 21 last year while patrolling Tongwynlais. One of the dogs had been knocked down on a road near Searl's property. The officers found the home and rescued five other dogs.
Enquiries with residents and vets were able to identify the address that the dogs had come from. Sargeant Matthew Fairweather said: "We attended the property and discovered a whippet, described as skin and bone, locked in a cupboard, without any food or water and covered in its own faeces. Three terrier puppies were locked in another room and their mother was in a bathroom, all being kept in the same dreadful conditions."
Searl was sentenced at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court to a 12-month jail term suspended for 18 months. He has also been banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
Zoie Burton
Zoie Burton was spared an immediate prison term after causing unnecessary suffering to 24 donkeys. She was handed an 18 week prison sentence, suspended for two years, after appearing at Llanelli Magistrates Court.
The court case follows a multi-agency operation in February 2021, where 72 donkeys and one horse were taken into possession by police on welfare grounds following veterinary examinations.
Burton admitted two offences under the Animal Welfare Act - that she caused unnecessary suffering to 24 donkeys in that she failed to ensure adequate hoof care for them and that she did not take steps to ensure the needs of 22 donkeys and a pony were met in by providing them with a suitable environment.
As well as a suspended sentence, the defendant was given an additional requirement to attend 25 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days. She was also banned from keeping equines for 10 years. Burton was ordered to pay £1,000 prosecution fees and a £128 victim surcharge and a deprivation order was made for all the animals.
Rhys Davies
This cruel gamekeeper used his dogs for fights and send sick pictures of people posed with dead animals. The 28-year-old, who was living in Wales before he was jailed, was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to four dogs under his care and keeping or training dogs for the purposes of animal fights.
Animal welfare chiefs searched Turnabrae house on Millden Estate in Angus, Scotland, in October 2019, where Davies worked as a gamekeeper at the time. The Scottish SPCA received a tip-off that Davies was heavily involved in using his dogs to fight and bait wild animals. Davies sent more than 50 pictures featuring severely injured dogs and individuals posing with dead animals to be printed in May 2019.
A member of staff at the company flagged these to the Scottish SPCA. Investigators found 11 dogs were being kept in kennels and an outbuilding at the property. A vet in attendance confirmed some of the dogs had fresh and historic injuries and disfigurement likely caused by fighting wild animals such as badgers and foxes. A collar inside the property tested positive for badger DNA.
Davies was jailed for eight months and was handed a 15-year ban on owning or keeping animals, at Forfar Sheriff Court in Scotland.
Kayley Pugh
Kaley Pugh, 23, caused unnecessary suffering to four reptiles which were found dead in “advanced states of decomposition”. She didn't even own the reptiles, but had been asked to look after them by someone else. When the owner called to collect a total of eight reptiles, four of them were dead.
RSPCA inspector Keith Hogben said he was shown several vivariums which had been collected from an address in Alltwalis, Carmarthenshire. He said: “I looked into the vivariums and was informed when they were found there was no water for the reptiles and no heat.”
According to the RSPCA, one vivarium contained two dead Leopard Geckos, Thor and Luna, and another vivarium contained a Chinese Water Dragon named Maverick who was also dead. Another vivarium contained a Crested Gecko named Oryx who was found dead. Two Emerald Swifts named Bow and Arrow, a Leopard Gecko and a Bearded Dragon were all found alive.
Pugh was handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and 12 rehabilitation days with probation. She was also ordered to pay £400 in costs and a victim surcharge of £154, and was handed a 10-year ban from keeping all mammals and reptiles.
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