Dogs 'suffered unnecessarily' at horseracing heiresses’ Cork puppy farm, court told

Anne Broderick is appealing a closure order against her puppy farm which was exporting dogs to a lucrative market in Singapore

Ms Broderick was in Mallow District Court to appeal a closure order Cork County Council had imposed on her dog-breeding facility at The Hermitage, Doneraile, Co Cork, in January, after she failed to comply with the terms of a Dog Breeding Establishment Order and an Animal Health and Welfare Notice.

Putrid smelling dogs soaked in urine, many very fearful with oozing, reddened eyes, were forced to walk in their own faeces due to overcrowding and “suffered unnecessarily” at a horseracing heiresses’ Cork puppy farm, a court has heard.

Anne Broderick, whose late father bred racehorse Paddy De Plasterer which won at Cheltenham, is appealing a closure order against her puppy farm, which was exporting dogs to a lucrative market in Singapore.

Dogs with vacant eyes “looked like they had given up” and a “petrified” labrador, which had been attacked in a shed by huskies, was so terrified it urinated and cowered when touched by a human.

Dogs’ paws were burned from chronic exposure to the highly corrosive ammonia in urine, the gas of which also damages dogs’ lungs and irritates their eyes, Mallow District Court heard.

Mairéad Wallace Piggott, veterinary surgeon and managing director of Millstreet Veterinary Group, inspected 24 of the dogs seized from Ms Broderick’s facility in January and February this year.

“My view is that the animals suffered unnecessarily,” she said.

“The eyes of the dogs looked vacant. They looked like they had given up," she said.

Some dog’s coats were so matted with faeces that it could prevent them from defecating or make doing so very painful, she said.

Some 23 of the 24 dogs she inspected smelled strongly of ammonia, while 15 of those 24 dogs’ coats were excessively matted.

Eight had ear issues and 13 had teeth problems, “some very, very serious” with “an awful lot of tartar buildup and gums receding from the teeth, which would have been quite painful.” 

Some 14 of the dogs had issues with their eyes.

Inadequate nutrition was likely a problem, Ms Wallace Piggott said. Although some dogs were of normal weight, the majority were underweight with poor skin quality and dull coats, she said.

The dogs were wet mostly around their abdomen which was consistent with lying in wet bedding.

The animal husbandry did not make sure the animals were free of pain and discomfort, she said.

Ms Broderick was in Mallow District Court to appeal a closure order Cork County Council had imposed on her dog-breeding facility at The Hermitage, Doneraile, Co Cork, in January, after she failed to comply with the terms of a Dog Breeding Establishment Order and an Animal Health and Welfare Notice.

Although Ms Broderick had a licence to breed 50 bitches, inspectors found more than 80, with 218 dogs and puppies in total.

Some 47 dogs were seized on January 23, 2023, of which 39 were breeding bitches. Another 24 dogs, 19 of which were breeding bitches, were seized on February 1.

All dogs were taken under the care of the ISPCA.

Vet Kevin Webster told Mallow District Court that the dogs seized were subjected to “undue suffering”, with some suffering more than others.

Standards were “definitely not” what they should be for a registered dog breeder.

Mr Webster examined 47 animals seized from Ms Broderick’s dog breeding business between January 23 and 24.

He assessed the dogs’ body condition score, which he said ideally should be around four to five, on a scale where one was grossly underweight and 10 was grossly overweight. Some of the dogs seized had body condition scores as low as two, meaning they were “significantly underweight”. Some dogs were of average weight, he said.

He found the dogs’ coats matted with faecal matter and urine, their ears not groomed, leaving breeds like Cavalier King Charles very susceptible to ear infections.

A deep ulcer was found on one dog’s eye.

Coats were of “poor quality”.

The dogs’ coats were generally dull, suggesting that they were not getting the micro and macro nutrients they needed.

The dogs smelled of ammonia, "an alkaline… as corrosive as stomach acid."

This will burn the feet and form a gas inhaled by the animal with many impacts on respiratory health, he said.

Two Jack Russel terriers were found with docked, or amputated, tails, although the practice has been illegal since 2014, as cutting through bone and nerve is a “painful procedure”. 

One dog was given oxytocin to encourage her labour when a puppy remained seemingly stuck in the birth canal suggesting uterine inertia which can result from low calcium in the dog’s diet.

Emma Carroll, senior inspector with the ISPCA , visited the premises on three occasions with Cork County Council. 

“I don’t think I’d seen dogs so distressed in their environment before,” Ms Carroll said.

“Dogs were putrid, smelled of urine, were wet and dirty.” 

There was overcrowding and inadequate bedding, she said, with dogs displaying abnormal behaviours.

“When dogs are in an environment they’re not coping with, they can be more aggressive.

“The issue is the overcrowding,” she said.

Vet Eddie Thornton, who had tended to Ms Broderick’s dogs occasionally over the years, said that when he last went to her kennels in 2021, the “dogs looked healthy and happy.” “They looked to be bedded and clean. She likes her animals, she was successful with her animals," he said. 

But he agreed with Judge Colm Roberts that Ms Broderick’s unwillingness or refusal to share breeding records with Cork County Council was a surprise and could “raise an element of suspicion”.

He also agreed with Judge Roberts that 11 dogs in one pen was “too many by far”.

He also agreed that dogs smelling of ammonia from urine was usually due to overcrowding.

“Overcrowding was the biggest problem but the rest flowed from that,” Mr Thornton said.

The case resumes in Mallow District Court at 10am on Wednesday.