
Heartless couple left puppy to suffer after illegal ear cropping surgery

Date of alert:
Wednesday 24 May 2023
Crime Ref:
Force:
Lancashire Constabulary
Andrew and Tayla King said the puppy was operated on in the days between it being sold and returned
A married couple have been banned from dealing with animals after failing to take a puppy for treatment after it had a painful and illegal operation.
Andrew James King, 29 and Tayla Louise King, 27, were given the ban, along with a one month curfew and an indefinite ban on animal trading after the animal's wounds were treated. Both had pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to an offence of causing unnecessary suffering to a puppy by failing to seek prompt and effective veterinary treatment for the puppy’s cropped ears.
Ear-cropping is illegal in the UK under the Animal Welfare Act unless it is carried out for medical reasons. The practice is a painful cosmetic procedure in which part of the ear is cut off with a knife or razor blade to make the dogs look fiercer.


