A couple from the Honiton area have recently been banned from selling puppies and handed a life-time ban on owning dogs, prompting council warnings on buying puppies.
East Devon District Council (EDDC) has recently had a flurry of enquiries regarding the buying and selling puppies as well as complaints of alleged unlicensed breeders during lockdown.
The authority has been contacted by residents from across the district, including from areas such as Exmouth, Exton, and Newton Poppleford and Whimple as well as further afield.
Child cruelty and neglect offences in the UK have doubled over the last five years, the NSPCC has revealed. There were 16,939 child cruelty and neglect offences recorded by police in 2017/18, up from 7,965 in 2012/13. The rise for the same five-year period is even more dramatic in the South West, where police forces in the region recorded 312 child cruelty and neglect offences in 2012/2013 to 1,618 offences in 2017/18 – a fivefold increase.
Reports to the police included extreme cases of when a parent or carer deliberately neglected, assaulted, abandoned or exposed their child to...
Animal Aid’s popular Christmas Festival returns to Exeter Corn Exchange on November 18th, offering visitors a great day out and a chance to purchase original gifts and cards that make a difference. There will be almost 50 stalls, featuring ethical traders and organisations that promote human, animal and environmental causes. Products on sale will include fair trade clothes, chocolates galore, local arts and crafts, cruelty-free cosmetics, quality bric-a-brac and a wide range of delicious vegan cakes.
But it’s not just about great and original shopping ideas. There will also be a...
The RSPCA investigated 27,019 animal cruelty cases in the South West last year - a rise of more than 5% compared to the previous 12 months.
These include the case of Max - an eight-year-old West Highland terrier (pictured) who was left to suffer for more than a year with a tumour so bad it was described as ‘like something out of a horror film’ by an RSPCA inspector.
His owner, from Wiltshire, was disqualified from keeping animals for five years, and Max is now thriving in his loving new home.
The animal welfare charity’s annual figures released today (Wednesday 29...
The owner of a pet rabbit who died after he was left without water has been disqualified from keeping rabbits for ten years.
Martin Saunders, 29, of Newman Road, Exeter pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a rabbit, known as Digger, when he appeared before magistrates in Exeter on Wednesday (November 30).
He was also sentenced to 60 hours community service and ordered to pay court costs after admitting leaving the rabbit without an adequate supply of fresh water between May 29 and June 1 2016.
The black-and-white lionhead rabbit was discovered dead in...
Every year the RSPCA is called out to rescue hundreds of animals across England and Wales after their owners abandon them and in many cases leave them for dead.
In 2015 2,751 animals were rescued by the animal welfare charity with a peak in admissions in July, 534 of those were in Devon.
Now the RSPCA is bracing itself for another summertime influx of dumped animals this year too.
It is thought one contributing factor of people dumping their animals in the summer months is down to some owners heading off on holiday and not finding anyone to look after their pet...
Figures released today (23 March) by the RSPCA reveal that people being convicted for cruelty in many areas of the South West is on the rise, whilst the number of animals being rescued is also increasing across the region.
Courts in the South West have seen an increase in the number of people convicted for crimes relating to animal welfare, particularly in some of the larger counties. In seven out of 13 counties in the RSPCA’s South West region there was an increase in the number of people being convicted in prosecutions taken by the RSPCA. In both Hampshire and Somerset, there was...
Firmly established as one of the highlights of Exeter's seasonal celebrations, Christmas without Cruelty offers a great chance to buy unique gifts and cards, and, at the same time, to support ethical traders and good causes.
A great day out, with fabulous veggie food and music.
Special guest: Molly Scott-Cato, the South West's first Green Party MEP.
A Mid Devon farmer, who pleaded guilty to a range of animal welfare offences, has received a life-time ban on keeping all animals and a 12 month suspended sentence.
Philip Govier, 69, of Willtown Farm, Clayhidon, on the Devon Somerset border, pleaded guilty to offences in January after allowing the carcases of dead animals to be eaten by dogs and predators, and leaving his cattle in such condition that they developed inflammation of the skin.
Officers of Devon and Somerset Trading Standards found, during visits between January 2013 and April 2013, rotting remains of sheep,...
An Okehampton farmer has been convicted in Exeter Magistrates Court of breaching the ban that was imposed on him by Exeter Crown Court in November 2012.
He was fined £500 and ordered to pay costs of £500 plus a £30 victim surcharge. So a total of £1030. The prosecution was brought by Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service.
The court heard that Leon Smith kept a collie dog in a livestock trailer on his land at Meldon, near Okehampton for at least six days. The court was told that a local resident heard the dog in the trailer on 24th March 2013, took photos, and...
