Pair who let seven-week-old puppy suffer after ear-cropping banned from keeping animals

Jordan Birchall-Roberts and Carl Cassius Marius Birchall, both from Wrexham, admitted failing to provide proper and necessary veterinary care and attention for a bulldog with cropped ears when they appeared in court on Tuesday.

The court had heard that the defendants told the RSPCA that the seven-week-old puppy, named Zena, was taken into their care with already cropped ears and they had owned her for a week.

Ear-cropping is illegal in England & Wales under the Animal Welfare Act; it is considered an unnecessary, painful mutilation with no welfare benefit.

The practice involves cutting off part of the ear flap, often without anaesthesia or pain relief.

RSPCA inspector Rachael Davies attended Meadow Lea in Wrexham on June 9 this year.

She found Zena in the living room and could see instantly that her ears had been cropped and that they looked “swollen and appeared to have been cut unevenly”.

Inspector Davies – who was speaking to a lady at the property – said in a written statement: “I could see the holes where the stitches had been. The lady told me that the first night the puppy came home it was screaming in pain so they gave it some Calpol and since then it had been fine.”

Zena’s owner Birchall-Roberts then returned and inspector Davies asked him where he got the dog from. He explained that he had been given a phone number which had come from the online advert site Gumtree.

“He said he then picked the dog up from some men at a service station in Chester,” she added. “I asked if the puppy had seen a vet, he said no. I advised him that I was concerned about the puppy’s ears as they looked very swollen and painful and that I wanted to take the puppy to the vet to get them checked.

“At first he was reluctant, however, after speaking to his father he agreed to let me take the puppy to the vet. He told me the puppy was seven weeks old when he got her and he had owned her for one week.”

At the vets, Zena was examined and a vet confirmed that her ears were swollen with signs of infection. She was taken into possession by police and placed into the care of the RSPCA.

A witness statement from a veterinary surgeon said Zena would have endured suffering when these wounds were sustained and during the days following the cropping.

They added: “The suffering in the days after could have been reduced by adequate assessment and treatment, had Zena been presented to a veterinary surgeon earlier.

“I estimate that Zena has not had her needs met for approximately one week, or the time since sustaining the wounds to her ears, allegedly one week prior. A reasonable person would have presented this puppy to a veterinary surgeon on the day of purchase or ownership.”

Prior to the hearing Zena was signed over to the RSPCA.

Birchall-Roberts, 20, of Heol Cadfan, and Birchall, 48, of Meadow Lea, Caia Park, both pleaded guilty to failing to meet the needs of the bulldog under the Animal Welfare Act.

Both were banned from keeping all animals for 24 months and ordered to pay £300 costs, a £120 fine and a £34 victim surcharge.