A dog breeder who was suspected of introducing foot-and-mouth disease into Ireland yesterday avoided prison after he was convicted of being cruel to animals.
John Walsh (55), of Brampton, Cumbria, was banned from owning dogs for 10 years and was told to pay almost £35,000 (€50,921)costs at Blandford Magistrates Court in Dorset.
Walsh had denied charges of causing unnecessary suffering to nine pups, abandoning the animals in a way likely to cause unnecessary suffering and transporting them in a way likely to cause unnecessary suffering.
He was yesterday sentenced to 100 hours community service, banned for a decade from owning dogs and told to pay the costs.
An earlier court heard that Walsh locked nine pups in his car which was as "hot as an oven" while he went on a summer trip to the Channel Islands. The temperature in the car rose to 28 degrees and the animals had no water to drink. The pups were eventually rescued after six hours in the car at Weymouth port in Dorset.
Walsh had travelled to Jersey to deliver other pups. After being contacted by police he returned but hid from detectives waiting at the dock.
The RSPCA began an investigation and Walsh was arrested at his home four days later. He was later found guilty of cruelty offences after a three-day trial.
He left the dogs in the car when he boarded the 6am Condor ferry on May 20th, 2004. John Davis, the car-park supervisor, told the earlier hearing the windows were open approximately one inch. He said they managed to open the door and found three dogs in one box and six dogs in the other.
David Bell, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said on the evidence the pups were suffering. He said it was fair to speculate that if they had been left in the car much longer they would have died.
David Macpherson, the presiding magistrate, said: "You are a professional dog breeder who has been already prosecuted in Scotland for a similar offence. In less than a year you have committed these offences for which we have found you guilty.
"Because of your not guilty plea and unco-operative attitude, you are responsible for meeting the costs."
In 2001 Walsh was jailed for three months by a court in Dublin after being convicted of illegally importing sheep from Cumbria. The animals, which were found on a farm in south Armagh, did not have proper health certificates and were later discovered to have foot-and-mouth disease.