Man sentenced for 'barbaric cruelty' towards dogs

A man who claimed to be a "dog whisperer" has been sentenced to 80 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, after admitting mutilating the ears of puppies.

Dog breeder Moheiz Adam, from Newport, told an undercover BBC reporter in 2021 that he could arrange the so-called cropping of dogs' ears to give them a "striking" look.

Animal welfare officers later responded to other complaints about his dogs and found evidence of mutilated puppies and fraudulent pet passports at his home.

In sentencing, Judge Eugene Egan said Adam, "selfishly prioritised" his financial interest "over and above the welfare of the dogs".

He said Adam "mutilated dogs because they commanded a higher price", and praised the BBC, which investigated the practice in 2021, for exposing his crimes.

The judge also said he carried out "barbaric acts of cruelty unnecessarily causing them pain and suffering".

According to the RSPCA, the "painful and unnecessary" practice involves removing skin at the tops of dogs' ears to reshape them and make them stand more upright.

Adam pleaded guilty to nine charges, including causing an animal to suffer, carrying out a prohibited procedure and possessing a dog passport to use for fraud.

Prosecutor Lee Reynolds said Adam "was identified by the BBC" which led to an investigation.

The court heard Adam would tell buyers that the cropping was carried out by a person called, "the Irish man".

What were described as "false canine passports" were discovered at his house suggesting he was "exporting animals" to Romania.

The prosecutor said "the seven false passports were to be used to support the sale of dogs with mutilated ears".

Adam has nine previous convictions for fourteen offences, including possession of a controlled drug, prohibited weapon and a knife.

The court heard he received four months in prison in France in relation to possession of a controlled drug and was convicted in 2010 for burglary, and in 2021 for possession of a class B drug.

The judge said he "treated them [the dogs] in a grotesque, cruel and wholly needless way".

He said: "The welfare of the dogs was ignored because of your avarice.

"You mutilated dogs because they commanded a higher price."

"Your offending was exposed by good quality and investigative journalism on the part of the BBC."

Moheiz Adam was sentenced to 80 weeks imprisonment, but the judge said that was being suspended for two years because there was a "realistic prospect of rehabilitation in the community".

Adam was disqualified from owning or keeping animals and dealing in animals or transporting animals for 15 years.

He will have to do 240 hours unpaid work and 15 days rehabilitation and pay £2,000 towards the cost of the case.

Warning: Upsetting content

Adam posted regular adverts on social media of his American Bully type dogs and their litters, boasting of their size and power.

He was not a licenced dog breeder, claiming to the BBC he was simply a "hobby breeder" and that the cropping of dogs ears did them no harm.

Many of his posts featured what appeared to be young dogs with their ears cut.

In 2021 an undercover journalist from BBC Wales Investigates contacted Adam, posing as a potential customer.

The journalist was offered puppies for as much as £13,000, while Adam claimed it was "a shame" ear cropping was illegal in the UK.

Despite this, he later offered to have the dog's ears mutilated by someone for an additional cost.

He said the illegal act could be concealed from the authorities by claiming the cutting had been carried out abroad, and the dog was imported.

The BBC journalist didn't go through with the sale, and when the Wales Investigates team confronted Adam about his activities, he claimed he was a "dog whisperer".

Clive Jones, from Newport council's trading standards team, said: "The BBC investigation was of great value….it indicated that he was doing certain activities."

Mr Jones said animal welfare teams later responded to other concerns about Adam's dogs in July 2022 and searched his home in Newport, south Wales.

Adam's terraced house, which he said was in "poor condition", had several dogs inside including one young dog with cropped ears, and seven fraudulent pet passports.

"[The pet passports] were for him to hand out to prospective purchasers of the dogs to say this dog has been imported and any mutilation would have been carried out outside of the UK," Mr Jones said.

"He had to do that through false documents to try and cover his business model, which was for him to actually arrange the mutilation of those dogs for customers.

"He knew what he was doing, he was happy to mutilate dogs for his own criminal benefit, to make really masses of money. That's all he was interested in."

Vanessa Waddon, from Hope Rescue in Pontyclun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, which has taken in many dogs with cropped ears over the years, said the desire for a certain "look" was still a big welfare issue.

While she is hopeful new legislation going through parliament may ban the importation of dogs with cropped ears, there are still "too many loopholes", Ms Waddon said.

"The breeding legislation still is not tight enough - we haven't got enough resources for enforcement.

"I don't think we're going to eradicate that type of breeding for a very long time until we've really got that robust legislation and more resources in place."

Adam initially denied doing anything wrong, but later pleaded guilty to possessing an article for use in fraud - the pet passport.

He also admitted eight other charges under the animal welfare act, including causing an animal to suffer and carrying out a prohibited procedure.