The owners of a Co Cork puppy farm have been banned for life from owning dogs, ordered to pay at least €25,000 in fines and costs and given five months suspended jail sentences after they were found to be keeping more than 70 animals in appalling conditions.
William (57) and Eleanor Sheehy (50) of Grange More, Timoleague had each pleaded guilty to six offences under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, including charges of causing unnecessary suffering or endangering the health or welfare of an animal at their puppy farm on March 23rd, 2023.
ISPCA animal welfare inspector Caroline Faherty had earlier told how she found the dogs being kept in kennels located in an old piggery. Their pens were covered in faeces, the floor often covered in water, the bedding was wet, and they had inadequate heating and were poorly fed. Many had matted hair, and eye and ear infections.
At Bandon District Court on Friday, defence solicitor, Conrad Murphy submitted details of the couple’s earnings, sayin they made a profit of €9,000 last year after they subtracted expenses of €15,500 from their turnover of €24,500.
Ms Faherty said it was difficult to understand how they had run up expenses of €15,500 caring for the dogs given the conditions that she had found them in on various visits. She pointed out that the Sheehys were selling pups for €700 each online.
Judge Monika Leech said two mitigating factors that she had to take into account when sentencing were the couple’s pleas of guilty and lack of previous convictions. However, there were also a number of aggravating factors, including the number of dogs they had mistreated.
Among the other aggravating factors was the fact the Sheehys were aware of the abject conditions that they were keeping their dogs and their failure to fully comply with an Improvement order served on them in July 2023 by Cork County Council,
Judge Leech said the Sheehys were guilty of “abject neglect of their dogs” and she was satisfied that they had “caused intolerable and extreme suffering and pain …. to defenceless, vulnerable animals reliant on their masters for care”
Ms Faherty had told Judge Leech that it cost the ISPCA €12,822 to rehabilitate and rehouse 14 dogs surrendered by the Sheehys after the March 23rd, 2023 visit and there were still 18 dogs and two litters of pups at the farm, which they were now willing to surrender.
Judge Leech noted the legislation allowed for a jail term of up to six months but she would take into account their guilty pleas and sentence them each to a term of five months, suspended on a number of conditions.
These conditions included that they would pay the €12,822 rehabilitation and rehousing costs of the 14 dogs already rehoused and that they would also pay the rehabilitation and rehousing costs on the 18 dogs they were ordered to surrender.
She also fined the Sheehys €1,000 each on the six charges that they had pleaded guilty to, leaving them with fines totalling €12,000 on top of the costs. She also banned them from ever owning dogs again.
