Lancashire couple jailed and banned from keeping pets for inflicting suffering on foxes and their own pets

A man who set his dogs on captive foxes to video what a judge branded "utterly brutal" cruelty, has been banned from keeping animals for life.

Dane Crawford, 30, was also jailed for 30 months after a court in Preston heard how both he and his partner Shelby Wallis were guilty of inflicting sickening suffering on their own pets too.

Mother-of-two Wallis, 23, was banned from having animals for 10 years and given a three months prison sentence suspended for 18 months when the couple appeared before Judge Simon Medland KC.

The court heard both had admitted a string of offences of neglect and cruelty on a number of dogs at their home in Howgill Avenue, Lancaster.

They had allowed at least two bull breed dogs to have their ears illegally cropped and had failed to seek veterinary treatment for a number of their other pets who had injuries - including one with a fractured hind leg - suffered in barbaric fights with foxes.

Judge Medland refused to allow videos taken by others present at the fights to be shown in court, saying they were too graphic.

He told the couple: “Your cruel and neglectful behaviour would have caused all the animals to suffer quite unnecessarily and to a very substantial degree.”

The prosecutions were brought by the animal charity RSPCA after what was said to have been "an expensive and difficult investigation."

Judge Medland therefore ordered both defendants to help pay the charity's costs - Crawford £3,500 and Wallis £2,500 - within the next three years.

Barrister Carmel Wilde, prosecuting, said the RSPCA had received an anonymous call alerting them to the couple's activities. Attached were photographs of puppies with freshly cropped ears - a process which is illegal in England and Wales under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

An RSPCA inspector visited the couple's home in Lancaster and found there were seven dogs in the premises "all of which were in an unacceptable condition."

Some of the dogs had open wounds and one had a fractured leg. None had been referred to a vet for treatment.

The officers seized two mobile phones on which they found "videos of wildlife being attacked by dogs." One showed a fight between dogs and a captured fox which appeared to be in a confined space, possibly a shed. The dogs were seen attacking and biting the fox while it was clearly still alive.

Crawford was identified on a video wearing distinctive trainers. Someone could be heard shouting encouragement to "Dane."

The couple were arrested and taken to the local police station. Their dogs were examined by vets and one, a male lurcher called Major, had fresh wounds on its nose and an open wound on its shin, which should have been treated by a vet - one of the wounds was roughly five days old.

A brindle lurcher called Lassie was in pain with a wound on a hind leg which was swollen - an X-ray showed the limb was fractured. It was estimated the dog had sustained it at least 24 hours earlier. The dog made a full recovery under the care of vets.

Another dog called Shakira, which had cropped ears, had conjunctivitis which the vets estimated had been present for three days. The scars on its ears were more than six weeks old.

And a fourth animal called Rae, also with cropped ears, was suffering from an eye infection which should have had veterinary treatment. The dogs, none of which had been micro-chipped, were all surrendered to the RSPCA and removed from the house, along with other dogs found there.

When interviewed by police Crawford made no comment, but Wallis provided a statement in which she said she had not been involved in the ear cropping and claimed the dogs had been bought in that condition. She said she was unaware of the eye conditions and had she known she would have sought treatment.

Ms Wilde said Crawford had a number of previous criminal convictions including robbery, possession of Class A drugs and theft, but had no history of animal cruelty. Wallis had no previous convictions.

Crawford's involvement in the dog fights had, she added, caused "a high level of pain resulting in death (of the foxes)."

Rosalind Emsley-Smith, representing Crawford, said: "It is virtually impossible to mitigate these offences." She said her client had moved to Lancaster from Liverpool five years earlier to cut ties with dubious people he had been associating with and had ended up with another bad crowd. 

"He is easily led," she said. "It seems clear he allowed himself to be embroiled in this type of offending (animal cruelty). On the videos other people are heard to encourage his involvement.

"However deeply unpleasant all these offences are, there has been a certain amount of naivety in his involvement. To his credit he has taken a step back and properly reflected on his behaviour and expressed genuine remorse and regret."

Jacob Dyer, for Wallis, said: "She wasn't the principal offender, but she has to take responsibility for a failure to care (for the dogs). She was living in the same household and therefore culpable.

"There has been a reaction (publicly) to this offending, when others have learned about it and it has taken its toll on her and had an impact on her life. It has been a salutary lesson for her."

Judge Medland told the couple their mistreatment of the animals had been "substantial and prolonged."

He went on: "People take on the responsibility of looking after animals take on the responsibility of caring for them and making sure they are safe. And if they have illness or injury (they get) proper treatment by a vet.

"Crawford, your offending is of a very serious nature overall. Dogs which looked to you for their care were found untreated despite wounds and fractures. And they were subjected to unlawful ear cropping - a painful and dangerous practice that is.

"It is apparent you were involved in setting your dogs on captive foxes. The people you mixed with were keen on hunting. But there is absolutely no similarity between this sort of behaviour and that which is a lawful field sport. It was criminal and utterly brutal.

"You will be banned from keeping any animal for the rest of your life."

Handing out a suspended prison sentence to Wallis he also ordered her to do 200 hours unpaid work and banned her from keeping animals for the next 10 years.