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A gang of puppy farmers who sold sick and dying dogs have been jailed. Making £850,000 from their cruel trade, the four farmers even stored dead spaniels in their freezer.

According to WalesOnline, the group advertised dogs as “bred at home” when in reality many were sourced from unlicensed puppy farms in Swindon and Wales. One of the group, Stacey Hayward, had her licence to sell puppies revoked in 2018 due to so many falling ill and her breeder’s licence expired later that year.

At least 100 adverts for around 500 puppies were placed between December 2018 and March 2020 across Gumtree, Preloved and Pets4Homes. But many of the puppies fell ill or died, alerting the RSPCA to the scam. 

One family paid £750 for their puppy only to have it die following £2,000 of veterinary treatment. Due to the complaints, warrants were issued to search the shared property of Kelly and Ricky Bennett and the home of Stacey Hayward and Steven Foster, 42.

At Hayward and Foster’s address in West Thurrock, Essex, officers found nine puppies in a shed at the back of the garden and all were seized and taken into care. Just over two miles away at the Bennetts’ address in Grays, Essex, officers found two adult spaniels, six cocker spaniel puppies and two dead spaniel puppies in the freezer.

Seized phones were filled with messages responding to adverts using different names and numbers and bank statements showed payments with the reference “puppy.” Messages revealed Hayward and Kelly Bennett were regularly sourcing dogs and putting up adverts while Ricky Bennett brought in the money.

Bennett paid the funds into Foster’s bank account. A seized puppy died after testing positive for parvovirus, a fatal intestinal disease that has no cure.

Despite the others suffering from multiple health conditions including Giardia, an intestinal parasite, they made full recoveries and found new homes. RSPCA and the Eastern Region Special Operation Unit’s financial investigator assessed financial records linked to the sellers and revealed around £850,000 had been made selling puppies. The investigation was led by the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) – a specialist task force investigating serious, organised and commercial animal cruelty such as high-value puppy trading. Hayward was once licensed to sell puppies but it was revoked in July 2018 because she received complaints about sick puppies, and her breeding licence expired in December 2018.

Three of the gang were jailed for a total of 11 years at Basildon Crown Court. Each entered guilty pleas – two for fraud and one for acquiring criminal property.

Kelly Bennett, 44, also indicated a guilty plea to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act and Ricky Bennett, 42, pleaded guilty to one. Kelly Bennett, was sentenced to 49 months and a 10 year ban on keeping animals.

Hayward, 41, was sentenced to 47 months in jail and Ricky Bennett was sentenced to 36 months and a 10-year ban. Meanwhile, Steven Foster’s sentencing has been adjourned until 10 November.

Speaking following the court hearing, Inspector Vikki Dawe – from the RSPCA’s SOU team – said: “The heartbreaking reality of puppy farming is that the welfare of the puppies comes second to making money. The sums of money involved are just eye-watering; and it’s another reminder of how unscrupulous this trade can be and how dangerous poor breeding and trading practices are for dogs, pups and unsuspecting consumers.

“For anyone looking to buy a puppy, rather than adopt, we urge them to do their research, know the signs of an unscrupulous breeder and use tools such as the Puppy Contract to avoid becoming another victim of the puppy trade.”

‘We were all utterly heartbroken’

The Bridgeman family from London became victims of the fraudsters after finding an advert on Pets4homes and spending £750 on a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy called Joey. After just two days Joey was in the veterinary hospital on a drip with suspected distemper and pneumonia, leading to a £2,000 bill.

Tracey Bridgeman said: “He was having fits and then, just a week after we collected him, he had two cardiac arrests and died. We’d only had him a short time but we’d already grown so attached. 

“We visited him every day at the hospital and we’d hoped he would pull through. We were all utterly heartbroken when he died.”

Wilf was 10 weeks old when he was taken from the puppy ring, and his new owner and RSPCA fosterer Jane in West Sussex described his new happy life. She said: “Wilf was scared of all noises and he had no doggy etiquette and didn’t know how to play nicely with other dogs.

“Despite his early challenges, he became available for rehoming on my birthday and so it was obvious that he’d be staying. Thanks to his best friend, Poppy the Jack Russell, he’s overcome his fears and is now a wonderful, cheeky chap.

“He loves his cuddly toys and is always carrying one around the house. And he loves to go for long walks in the countryside.”

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