A man and woman from Essex have both been disqualified from keeping dogs for their involvement in the cropping of their dogs’ ears.
Rory Canny (DoB: 25/05/1992) and Sophie Louise Snell (DoB: 27/11/1991), both of St Osyth Road East, Little Clacton, Clacton-on-Sea, appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday (28 October) to be sentenced for the cropping of their dogs’ ears.
They had previously been convicted of one offence each under the Animal Welfare Act related to the cropping*.
The RSPCA launched an investigation after reports of the cropped ear dogs. A warrant was executed at a property in Clacton where investigators found a number of dogs at the property, including several with cropped ears.
Officers carried out online research into BullylairUK kennels and found a number of images on social media showing puppies who were being bred and having their ears cropped.
In her witness statement, RSPCA inspector Caroline Richardson – who compiled a research report based on the Instagram images – said: “[An] image posted on 09/05/2020 shows an entire litter of puppies with whole ears, on BullylairUK Instagram page, stating they are four weeks old.
“Bjorn (pictured above) is then posted about in December 2020 with cropped ears. Canny and Snell… both confirmed in interview this is the same dog and that they bred the dog.”
The couple originally told investigators that Bjorn came to them at four-months-old from Bulgaria before changing their story and admitting to breeding him, but claiming they sold him to a friend overseas, and only returned after the ‘friend’ had arranged the cropping.
However, online evidence – including photos posted online during the time period he was allegedly overseas – suggests the dog was with them, and there are no travel documents to support their claims.
A second dog, Tiger Lily, is pictured on the same Instagram account with whole ears. She has similar markings to a dog seen on the day of the visit (WR/6) – a “distinctive fork shape” white chest marking – with cropped ears.
In interview, the couple said that Lily – as they call her – had come from another kennels and denied breeding her.
A third dog – Nylah (pictured) – is seen in an image posted on Instagram on 9 May 2020 as a four-week-old puppy with whole ears. The second image, describing her as ‘my beautiful girl’, was posted on 7 March 2021 with cropped ears and claiming she was co-owned with another kennels.
In interview, Snell said she didn’t know who owned Nylah and Canny denied being her co-owner.
A fourth dog – Saber Tooth – is seen in an image posted on Instagram on 1 January 2021 with uncropped ears. In March 2021, a video is posted showing Canny holding a puppy with very similar markings with his ears now cropped.
Canny said, in interview, that the puppy with cropped ears was a different dog and is from another kennels. He said that Saber Tooth was from Bulgaria.
Ear cropping is illegal in England and Wales, under Section 5 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Sentenced on Friday (28 October), both Canny and Snell were disqualified from keeping dogs for five years. Canny was also given a 12-week prison sentence – suspended for 12 months – and Snell was given a curfew (9pm-6am) for six months.
Both were ordered to pay £600 in costs each while Snell was ordered to pay a £90 victim surcharge and Canny a £122 victim surcharge.
The couple told the court that they’d since rehomed all of the dogs so they were not deprived of ownership of any, but must not own or care for any further dogs during their five-year ban.
Speaking after sentencing, inspector Richardson said: “Ear cropping is an horrific practice which has absolutely no benefits for the dogs and can cause them lifelong health, behavioural and social problems.
“This is done purely for cosmetic purposes and sadly can lead to puppies being sold for much more money – but we’d urge the public and anyone looking to buy a puppy to remember that this is an illegal procedure which has hugely negative impacts for the dogs themselves.”
