A Rochdale man has been banned from owning animals for a decade and given a suspended prison sentence after puppies in his care were discovered in filthy, faeces-covered conditions.
Patrick Lynch, 49, was sentenced at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court on Friday 16 May after pleading guilty to breeding dogs without a licence and failing to ensure their welfare. The court also barred him from owning, keeping or transporting dogs for 10 years.
The case followed a raid by Rochdale Council’s trading standards team at a property on Foxholes Close on 21 March 2023, where Lynch had been staying. Acting on intelligence that dogs were being bred illegally at the address, officers discovered three Rottweiler puppies confined in a six-foot by four-foot bathroom smeared with faeces and soaked in urine.
A vet present during the inspection described the stench inside the room as “overwhelming”. Faeces covered the floor and walls, and no bedding or clean space was provided for the animals. All three dogs were removed immediately and taken to kennels.
Despite intervention, the puppies later contracted parvovirus, a deadly and highly contagious disease, and were euthanised.
Lynch, who is of no fixed address, was handed a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to pay £2,400 in prosecution costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
Councillor Tricia Ayrton, cabinet member for climate change and environment at Rochdale Borough Council, welcomed the conviction. She said: “Mr Lynch was clearly not fit to care for animals. The fact he was breeding dogs for profit, while keeping them in these appalling conditions, makes this case particularly upsetting.
“Our trading standards team worked tirelessly to bring this case to court, and I hope the sentence sends a strong message to others who think animal cruelty will go unpunished: it won’t. We will act on any intelligence we receive.”
The offences were brought under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
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