This cat and dog breeder in the UK maintained a spotless living room in which she entertained her customers while out the back cats and dogs were kept in horrific conditions in the garden.
The veneer of cat breeders often hides the reality of how they treat their animals. Even the famous founder of the equally famous Bengal cat, Jean Mill, kept her cats caged all the time. Breeders do this. Their breeding cats are kept in cages with 20 sq feet of living space or less.
Janet Oxlade and Glen Hayes bred cats and dogs. In the pictures I see beautiful Ragdoll cats. One is in a rabbit hutch which appears to be in an outhouse which supports what the Metro.co.uk reporter says, namely that they are in an unheated area. There are several Ragdoll cats in a cage in the other picture.
The pens and overall condition of the dogs is worse. It looks horrendous.
RSPCA inspector Cliff Harrison said:
“There was filth and mud everywhere and the dogs couldn’t get out of the mud at all. The animals were smothered in faeces, they just didn’t know where to go…”
On a tip off from customers, the RSPCA raided the breeder’s home in January last year and discovered these cruel conditions.
The pair were found guilty at trial and a 20 week prison sentence suspended for 18 months was handed down together with a costs order of £6,000.
The cats and dogs have been rehomed or are in foster care awaiting adopters.
The moral of the story? Firstly think long and hard before buying from a breeder and secondly if you really want to buy a pedigree animal visit the breeder and nose around plus ask questions. If he or she is evasive forget it. The alternative is the much cited mantra: adopt a rescue companion animal. So much better from so many standpoints.
If people are determined to have a pedigree cat, they can find them in numerous rescues and shelters and adopt them.
Breed rescues exist, but they need checking out carefully. Some are nothing but a front for backyard breeders.
These are breeders who only care about the profits the animals can bring, but don’t really care about the animals. Very sad but true. Glad they were busted.