At Cardiff Magistrates Court today, Thursday July 22, Christopher Mae from Cardiff, also known as “Bulletproof Bullies”, was sentenced for illegal dog breeding, animal mutilation, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and illegal importation of dogs.

Mae, an unlicensed breeder, was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, banned from keeping any animals for 8 years and will have to pay costs totalling over £11,000. 

Eight puppies were seized in December 2020 and have been in the care of Hope Rescue since then, pending the outcome of the court case. Six of the puppies, all with illegally cropped ears, quickly moved into local foster homes.

Hope Rescue has already spent over £3,500 in vets’ fees on these puppies over the past seven months, but it will cost at least £1,500 more to prepare them for adoption, with all the health checks and treatment they need.

Ear cropping is illegal in the UK but current legislation does not ban dogs and puppies with cropped ears being imported from overseas and sold. Cropping a dog’s ears, at any age, causes unnecessary pain and suffering, and is often carried out by individuals with no professional training who quite simply mutilate the dogs for financial gain.

Mae bred so-called “Micro Bullies”, aiming to produce small dogs with a lot of muscle and bone, which can cause issues with the dogs’ spines and back ends. One example is a dog called Gryff, who was described by Mae as “the future of his breeding line”. Gryff was referred to a specialist vet and shown to suffer from inherited conditions, including hydrocephalus and curvature of the spine. He struggles to walk on hard surfaces and his legs will often give way. 

Breeders like Mae, who are willing to crop the ears of puppies for profit, are unlikely to pay attention to the welfare needs of their dogs, leaving others to pick up the financial and emotional costs.

Happily for the puppies in Hope Rescue’s care, their futures are now secure. Five of them will be adopted by their foster families and good homes will be found for the other three.

As well as these puppies, Hope Rescue has over 100 dogs in its care at the rescue centre and in foster homes. If you would like to support this vital work caring for dogs in need across South Wales, you can donate here. 

You can also text HOPERESCUE to 70085 to donate £10. Texts cost £10 plus one standard rate message and you’ll be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you’d like to give £10 but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text HOPERESCUENOINFO to 70085.

To find out more about ear cropping and to join Hope Rescue in supporting the #FlopNotCrop campaign, click here.