A Warwickshire dog breeder has narrowly avoided prison after he was convicted of mutilating the ears of puppies for cosmetic reasons.
Simon Davis, 34, of Acacia Crescent, Bedworth, admitted seven charges of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal when he appeared at Nuneaton Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 17th December 2019.
The case was sentenced at Coventry Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 22nd January 2020.
Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is an offence under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. It has a maximum penalty of 6 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction.
Magistrates heard the Davis ran a "lucrative commercial enterprise" selling designer dogs for up to £7,000 each through his online business, Lions Lair Kennels.
The charges relate to Davis cropping the ears of seven American Bulldog puppies using razor blades. One of the cropped puppies was sold to Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock and another to Geordie Shore star Aaron Chalmers.
Cropping, which is done for purely cosmetic reasons, involves cutting tissue from a dog's ears in order to give it a more "street cred" look.
As a result of the publicity generated by Davis' business, the RSPCA and police executed a search warrant at his property in January 2019. Eight American Bulldogs were found in kennels in a garage at the rear of Davis' property.
A second warrant was executed concurrently at Davis' mothers' property, where a further nine American Bulldogs, two of which were pregnant, were discovered. Six of those dogs had cropped ears.
Davis' mobile phone was seized and subsequent examination of the device revealed that he had been seeking the assistance of an American "cropper" to perform the barbaric procedure. Cropping equipment was seized, as well as photographs showing puppies' ears before and after Davis' handiwork.
Sara Pratt, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said: "Simon Davis is the owner of Lions Lair Kennels, a professional commercial enterprise.
"A number of dogs have been bought by celebrities and have created further high-profile publicity for the breed and the business itself.
"Ear cropping for cosmetic reasons is an illegal practice in the UK and may only be undertaken by a qualified veterinary surgeon, and it’s prohibited except for medical reasons.
"The purpose of cosmetic ear cropping is to give the dogs a certain 'look', to have a more intimidating or more menacing appearance.
"There is an experience of pain for the dog. The dog would be caused suffering.
"This was a painful procedure for no reason other than cosmetic appearance.
"Davis knew the process of cropping was illegal. In one text he said 'it's banned'.
"But despite this he arranged for a cropper to visit the kennels and carry out cropping on the puppies."
Abid Hussain, mitigating, reminded Magistrates that Davis was entitled to maximum credit for his early guilty plea.
"He has always had a passion for animals, especially dogs," Mr Hussain said.
"He wanted to provide for his family and this opportunity arrived and he saw it was an opening and took advantage of it.
"There was no huge pot of money which he has lying around as a result of this.
"This is the first offence of its kind recorded against Davis. Efforts were made to minimize the suffering of the animals.
"No animals have died as a result of this procedure."
Davis was sentenced to 18 weeks' custody suspended for 12 months, with 160 hours unpaid work requirement.
He was ordered to pay £10,973 in prosecution costs and banned from keeping dogs for a minimum of 15 years.
Davinder Athwal, Presiding Justice, said: "You receive this sentence because of the unnecessary suffering to animals and financial gains you have made.
"This was a large scale commercial operation. You were clearly aware the operation you were running was illegal and accepted the risks associated with running an illegal operation contrary to the welfare of the animals."
Inspector Herchy Boal of the RSPCA, said: "We're opposed to ear cropping - a process where ears are removed or surgically altered. It's painful, wholly unnecessary and often done only for the purposes of appearance. Dogs should never be mutilated for cosmetic purposes and ear cropping can actually be detrimental to their health, behaviour and welfare.
"We'd urge people never to buy a dog with cropped ears and to report any concerns about ear cropping by calling us on 0300 1234 999."
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