Bucks puppy farming gang members jailed for 18 years

A cruel puppy farming gang from Buckinghamshire who masterminded the international trafficking of sick and dying dogs into the UK to be sold to unsuspecting families have been jailed for more than 18 years - the longest ever RSPCA sentence.

The ring of smugglers made more than £300,000 by scamming innocent dog owners into buying ill animals using fraudulent vaccination documents. 

The sentences handed down on Thursday and Wednesday make up the biggest ever combined prison sentences an RSPCA prosecution has ever seen.

Police raided a Travellers' site in Milton Keynes and seized 54 dogs that were taken into the care of the RSPCA for treatment and rehabilitation.

Cocker spaniels, Schnauzers, Chihuahuas, springer spaniels, Labradors, beagles and poodles were among the breeds kept in horrible conditions in tiny cages and in the back of lorries.

Pens were full of hazards with nails sticking out, sharp metal mesh and wires hanging down.

The three of the youngest puppies were kept in a dark, cold pen and could not see anything but four solid walls, with only dirty water and bedding that smelt of urine, the RSPCA said.

Some of the pets had bad infections and bloated abdomens from lack of food, while some of them were left in such confined spaces they tried to chew through the walls and floors, according to the animal charity.

The dogs were shipped to Britain from Ireland and riddled with disease when they were sold on the website Pets4Homes to unsuspecting customers.

But the canines were so sick some did not even make it to be sold, while others died after their new owners bought them.

One of the callous dog smugglers even threw a dead pup's body away in a bin bag.

Six members of the same family were among the 13 defendants who were jailed for a total of more than 18 years.

Members of the Cawley Traveller family admitted ownership of some dogs but claimed they did not know who owned others.

Frontmen Daniel Yeboah, 44, John, 49, and Wendy O’Brien, 32, Rebecca Hall, 30, and Austin Paice, 32, placed a series of adverts under false names online to flog the mistreated animals.

At Aylesbury Crown Court on Thursday and Wednesday, 10 defendants pleaded guilty to fraud with nine of those also admitting animal welfare offences, while a further three pleading guilty to animal welfare charges. 

Seven were handed immediate jail terms totalling more than 18 years - the longest combined prison sentences an RSPCA investigation has ever seen.

The court also issued destruction orders for 10 seized mobile phones and forfeited £16,000 of seized cash which will be distributed to the victims.

Costs of more than £100,357 were awarded to the RSPCA and six dogs still in the charity's care can now be rehomed.

John Christopher Cawley, 25, was jailed for three-and-a-half years while Joseph Cawley Snr, 44, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.

Margaret Cawley, 46, was jailed for three years and nine months and Michael Cawley, 41, was sent to prison for two years and three months.

Daniel Yeboah, 43, was jailed for three-and-a-half years, while Annalise Cawley, 23, was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Joseph Cawley Junior, 44, was given a 24-month community order with 30 days of rehabilitation activity, as well as 150 hours of unpaid work.

All seven were given a 10-year ban from keeping all animals.

Rebecca Hall, 30, of Milton Keynes, was jailed for four months, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £750 compensation while both John Paul O’Brien, 49, and Austin Paice, 32, were jailed for 13 months.

James Yeboah, 44, was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years, ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work and to pay £1,000 costs and compensation.

Mary Ward, 31, and Wendy O’Brien, 32, both of Milton Keynes, were given suspended sentences and all six were handed a 10-year disqualification from keeping dogs.

After the sentencing, lead RSPCA investigator Michelle Hare, said: “This was a sophisticated and complex puppy farming ring in the Milton Keynes area.

“This operation was led by the Cawley family who were illegally breeding and importing puppies to supply to third parties - or frontmen - to be sold to unsuspecting members of the public on their behalf.

“Dogs were kept in poor conditions in lorry containers and the backs of vans and were often riddled with health problems but were sold to innocent families who were hoping to add a dog to their homes but were, instead, left with staggering vet bills, dogs with complicated needs and, for some, the heartache of losing their puppy.”

The probe into the trafficking operation began in November 2019 when the RSPCA and Trading Standards received a large number of complaints about the sale of puppies from various addresses around the Milton Keynes area.

Some had become sick, others had unknown health problems and three puppies died, with many being sold with what appeared to be fraudulent vaccination cards, the RSPCA said.

Investigators linked the individual cases when CCTV footage showed John Cawley delivering puppies in a van after leaving the Willen Road Travellers site in Newport Pagnell.

Other members of the Cawley family were recorded travelling in a red van on a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool in October 2019.

This vehicle was also seen delivering puppies to this property and later returned from Holyhead in Wales to Dublin around three weeks later.

During a raid on the site, officers found empty vaccination vials and needles, alongside flea and worming products, a stack of blank vaccination sheets which matched those the victims had been given when they purchased puppies.

RSPCA officers and Thames Valley Police carried out warrants at six homes, one storage unit and a string of unregistered vehicles at the Travellers’ site and where Daniel Yeboah lived in Milton Keynes with his brother James.

A witness went to the home to view the puppies and CCTV showed John Cawley delivering a red cocker spaniel bitch and puppies at the address, then later collecting them.

Photos from adverts posted online, including one for a Labrador puppy, matched with the wash house and utility space at the site, the RSPCA said.  

One victim went to view a Dalmatian puppy at the site after an online advert was posted, claiming the puppy was being rehomed as it was being bullied by their pug.

Another woman visited Paice's home in Milton Keynes in October 2019 after responding to an advert for cocker spaniel puppies, but she did not buy the puppy from the seller - believed to be Daniel Yeboah - as it looked unwell.

She went back onto Pets4Homes and found another advert with the same photos but a different listed seller.

The RSPCA was tipped off last October that puppies were being imported from Ireland, housed on a Travellers’ site and sold online, with adverts that were linked to Michael Cawley.

RSPCA inspectors went with police at the scene during the raid and found a collie bitch, a cocker spaniel bitch, a 12-week-old cocker spaniel puppy and three six-week-old spaniel cross pups at the site.

Inspector Hare added: “The three youngest pups were in a dark, cold pen and they couldn’t see anything but four solid walls. The water was dirty and the bedding smelled strongly of urine. The environment was totally unsuitable.

“Joseph Cawley Snr, who was on scene, said his cousin owned the puppies. I told him I’d be removing them and asked for the owner’s details but he refused to give them to me. Police seized the puppies. They had brown discharge in their ears, nasty infections and bloated abdomens.”

The dogs were cared for by the RSPCA and in foster homes and can now all be rehomed.