An abusive dog breeder from Cornwall must pay £1,426 after being caught on camera kicking a dog while it calmly breastfed its newborn puppies.
Sharon Jeannine Gladwell, of Mount Pleasant, Hayle, was reported to the RSPCA by a member of the public last July for kicking and hitting a dog temporarily in her care.
Named Trust, the dog was bought as a puppy in Gladwell in 2018 under an agreement that, when she was three years old, she would be returned to the breeder in Penwith to have a litter of puppies.
In May 2021, the RSPCA said Trust was bred and returned to the Gladwell home by her owner to give birth in July, along with another pregnant dog.
The witness said Gladwell asked her to help her fix cameras in her two whelping rooms, a pen designed to protect puppies during birth.
Sharon Jeannine Gladwell, of Mount Pleasant, Hayle, Cornwall, was reported to the RSPCA by a member of the public last July for kicking and hitting a dog temporarily in her care.
She said in her statement that she managed to fix them and downloaded an app on her phone to view them as well, which she added Gladwell was aware of.
Gladwell, 51, appeared at Bodmin Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, June 18, to be sentenced after pleading guilty to two offenses under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
He was fined £733 and ordered to pay £400 costs and a victim surcharge of £293.
The witness said in her statement: ‘She (Gladwell) had two delivery rooms, one in the front bedroom, where Trust was, and another in a room next to the bathroom.
“She told me that the cameras in her delivery rooms had stopped working and asked me to try to fix them for her.
‘I ended up getting them working and downloaded an app on my phone so I could watch them too. Sharon knew it.
“I stayed while Trust had her puppies. She had eight puppies in total.
The witness left after an argument between the two women but, when Gladwell stopped responding to her messages, he decided the next day (July 31, 2021) to monitor her and the puppies, through the application that Gladwell knew that had access.
‘I saw Sharon walk into the room where Trust was with the puppies. She placed a bowl in the whelping box and I saw Trust flinch.
“This was completely out of character for her and it worried me,” she said in her statement.
‘At 17:58…I saw her enter the whelping box with Trust and the puppies. She was watching it live as it was happening.
‘Sharon straightened the bedding and then kicked Trust hard in the chest with her right foot. Then he leaned over her and Trust didn’t move.
In the video, Gladwell can be seen standing over the helpless animal before she attacks her.
The dog breeder then picks up the animal in his care by the neck, which would have caused physical pain, according to a veterinarian.
‘He then punches Trust in the face causing his head to snap back. He then continues to lean over her before punching her in the face again.
“He then picks her up by the scruff of her neck and the fur on her butt and holds her off the ground for about eight seconds before throwing her into the back of the farrowing pen.”
A vet who viewed the footage said Trust would have suffered physical pain as a result of the incident, as well as “emotional stress”.
Gladwell is then seen throwing the poor animal towards the back of his birthing pen.
In a statement to the court, the vet added: “In my opinion, the person in this video has behaved in an appalling manner with complete disregard for the welfare of both the dog and her puppies.”
One puppy died of suspected leptospirosis, a bacterial disease spread through the urine of infected animals, but the others were sold and Trust was returned to its owner.
The witness added: ‘Sharon told me they had kept Trust inside the house but it stank and his stomach was covered in dirt, which took about a week for me to get out.
“She had lost weight too.”
Reports were made to the RSPCA in July 2023 and officers launched an investigation and visited Gladwell in November that year.
The witness said she didn’t report it sooner because she was worried about the repercussions.
