Evil dog breeder left pups to die in suitcase

By [lmoran]

A FLETCHING dog breeder who dumped two litters of new-born puppies in suitcases and left them to die has been warned she faces jail.

Amanda Cheadle, 58, kept 11 black and white three-day-old collie pups in a case in a locked cupboard – four of them were dead.

A further four, just a week-old, were found in a second smaller suitcase and one of them was dead and decaying in a bed of straw.

Lewes Magistrates Court heard RSPCA officers became suspicious when they saw an adult dog lactating but no sign of any puppies.

Owner Cheadle told them the pups had died and were buried in the back garden of her £500,000 farmhouse in Bell Lane.

But during a search an inspector found 15 puppies in two suitcases after hearing "groaning" from a locked cupboard under the stairs.

Police were called after Cheadle refused to let the RSPCA in, branding them "animal pornographers", "GM terrorists" and "criminals".

In total, 26 dogs and a ginger kitten were seized from the property after they were found in "squalid" and cramped conditions. Some of the adult dogs had previously been taken away but returned after Cheadle made improvements to a double garage where they were homed.

Prosecutor Rowan Jenkins said: "For all of those involved it was a very distressing exercise and Cheadle appeared to be utterly un-concerned. She said the puppies were 'GM' which was taken to mean genetically modified.

"She thought because the animals had been taken and returned to her, this interference happened while the adults were in the care of the society."

He added: "The puppies were quite simply left to die in the suitcases. Those that were still alive were reunited with their mothers and rapidly improved.

"Nevertheless they would have suffered from being separated from their mothers who they depended on for nutrition and warmth. They were, for whatever reason, deliberate acts of cruelty."

Cheadle denied nine counts of causing unnecessary suffering and failing to meet the needs of the animals between August, 2008, and February, 2009, but was convicted after a five-day trial.

She walked out of the hearing after sacking her solicitor, telling magistrates: "These are trivial and extraordinarily minor offences."

She told the court: "It seems pretty self evident that the RSPCA are going to win. I don't wish to participate in a process which is detrimental to my dogs."

Magistrates issued a warrant for Cheadle's arrest on Friday, October 23, after she failed to attend court to be sentenced.

They warned her she faced a jail term of 18 to 26 weeks and ordered a pre-sentence and psychiatric reports.

Chairman of the bench Chris Bell said: "Ms Cheadle intentionally killed and intended to kill the puppies by placing them in suitcases, thus causing them starvation, dehydration and suffocation."

The surviving puppies are being cared for in RSPCA kennels as Cheadle appeals against their re-homing. Three of them had to be put down.