Pippa Harper a.k.a. Pippa Eveleigh, of Upper Street, Shere, Guildford, has been summonsed to appear before Guildford Magistrates’ Court on 3rd February 2021 charged with operating a business of selling puppies without a license.
Animal Protection Services is a registered charity that investigates and prosecutes organised animal crime. It is an unusual charity in that it both investigates and prosecutes cases, using private prosecution powers contained within section 6 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.
A spokesperson for Animal Protection Services said: “During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for puppies as pets has increased inciting the involvement of unlicensed breeders, some of whom are opportunists and others connected to organised crime. Whilst the prices charged for pets has doubled, the costs of rearing a litter of puppies has not.”
“We are committed to ending the illegal trade in puppies through adequate enforcement of animal welfare legislation”, added the spokesperson.
WE CAN ONLY PROSECUTE WITH YOUR HELP!
As a small charity, we can only continue investigating organised animal cruelty with your help. Please consider making a generous donation to our Prosecutions Fund today.
Too many unwanted dogs and cats and people see it as a money making racket and should be licenced and controlled fully to stop it. Animals are not commodities.
Congratulations on our great work, the growth of unlicensed back yard breeders is a situation that has troubled myself and my wife as Licensed breeders for a while, its dangerous and I fear their will be consequences as dogs become discarded and abandoned when things return to normal.
I have discovered that there appears to be some confusion on the part of some authorised bodies including the RSPCA and the Pet Advertising Advisory Group regarding the need for dog breeders to be licensed.
I have communicated with these and others to try and insist on the correct application of this legislation, the answers I get are contradictory with some thinking that breeders don’t need to be licensed if they breed less than three litters a year but that is not the case as I am sure you know, we ourselves have gone through the license procedure with our local council although we only breed two litters a year. If you look on the websites selling puppies, some litters for as much as £30000 to £40000, such as http://www.pets4homes.co.uk and Gumtree you will see that 80% of these advertisers openly say they are not licensed even when the website states in its T&C that they should be.
Maybe these website as partners in the sales should also be taken to court