A puppy farm owner, who had dogs worth over €80,000 seized by Cork County Council, has failed in her efforts to overturn a closure order issued against her business.
The local authority issued the order against Anna Broderick of The Hermitage, Ballyandrew, Doneraile, Co Cork in January after their veterinary inspectors found conditions on the farm "posed a serious and immediate threat to animal welfare".
At Mallow District Court, Judge Colm Roberts dismissed Ms Broderick's appeal and affirmed the closure order after hearing evidence from five witnesses for the council and seven witnesses for Ms Broderick over a total of four days.
Judge Roberts said he accepted without doubt that Ms Broderick loved animals and did not consciously do harm to her dogs in any way.
"There was no animal cruelty in this case," he said.
"But through her actions, and inactions, she caused dogs to suffer" and he was not satisfied "she is able or willing to meet the standards required".
He said it was necessary for him to confirm the closure order and refuse the appeal.
Judge Roberts heard evidence from Cork County Council veterinary inspectors Carol Nolan and Edmund O'Sullivan that they inspected the puppy farm on two occasions last October.
Although she had a licence to breed 50 breeding bitches, they found there were 81, with 218 dogs and puppies in total.
Court hears dogs in poor condition
Ms Nolan told how they found many of them in poor condition, underweight and with matted hair, without water or proper bedding and no heating.
When she requested both registration and breeding papers for the dogs, Ms Broderick refused to hand them over.
Both inspectors described the dogs "meerkat standing on their hind legs", indicating they were poorly socialised and deprived of sufficient exercise. There was also evidence of overcrowding with up to ten dogs in some pens.
An independent vet, Mairead Wallace-Pigott, who examined 71 dogs removed from the farm in January and February told the court that she found 23 of the 24 dogs removed in February stank of urine.
She said they had coats matted with dried faeces, suggesting they were left lying in their own urine and faeces.
But in her evidence today, Ms Broderick denied that she had mistreated any dogs.
The court was told that she first set up a dog breeding business in 2016 and it was very successful, with sales coming initially from word of mouth. Later, she had advertised on Done Deal and Dogs.ie and on her own website.
But in 2018, she was contacted by another breeder looking to source pups for export to Singapore and eventually she began exporting there herself.
But she ran into difficulties after Covid-19 trying to secure cargo handlers to ship the dogs to Singapore as they had their own customers to whom they had to give priority.
She said that when she was visited by the inspectors last October, she had some 61 breeding bitches, 21 stud dogs to breed with them and 148 pups, including 100 she had bought in for export.
'I love my dogs'
Asked by barrister Brian Leahy as to why she had refused to show her breeding papers for all the dogs when asked for them, Ms Broderick said she now regretted not doing it.
Ms Broderick told the court that she was under a lot of pressure at the time and she panicked. She said she had received death threats on social media after the details of the closure notice became public.
But of all the horrific abuse she received online, she said what she found most hurtful was the suggestion that she did not love dogs and that she was in the dog breeding business simple to make money without any regard for the welfare of the animals under her care.
"I take pride in my dogs. I love my dogs and I took pride in people coming to buy my pups - you have to be able to stand over your stocks so I made sure they were all healthy.
"I loved my dogs, they are more than just a business for me - they are my companions and they are a great comfort."
Judge Roberts said the evidence showed that she had failed in multiple regards, including in producing records for inspection, in taking the matter seriously in a timely manner, and she failed in her duties under Section 15 of the Dog Breeding Establishment Act 2010.
He said it was his view that Cork County Council acted with forbearance and only commenced this notice as a last option.
"I appreciate this is not the outcome Ms Broderick wished for but I have to be driven and led by the evidence, which was very compelling," the judge said.
Barrister Donnchade McCarthy BL for Cork County Council said it was not seeking full costs in the case, but was applying for costs of €5,000, which was granted by Judge Roberts.
