Scottish SPCA 'devastated' as man found with malnourished puppies allowed to keep pets

An animal charity has said it is “devastated” after a man who kept malnourished puppies and goaded a dog to bite a domestic rat was allowed to keep his pets.

Liam Fair pled guilty to goading a lurcher dog to bite, attack and kill a domestic rat.

He also admitted to failing to meet the needs of five puppies, three dogs and a kitten at his home in Crieff in October 2022.

The Scottish SPCA were made aware of footage showing Fair goading his lurcher-type dog Jax to attack a domesticated brown rat.

In the video, Fair can be seen holding the rat by the tail while hitting it off the dog’s face.

“Veterinary opinion was that severe psychological and physical suffering was caused to the rat during the incident,” a SSPCA inspector said.

“We also received screen shots taken from social media page Facebook, where on a public page, Fair admitted feeding his dog live rats as a method of training his dog for pest control purposes.”

The screenshots showed showed a black brindle lurcher-type dog named Jax attacking the rat.

SSPCA gained a warrant after discovering Fair had been visited multiple times previously as well as a vet sharing a statement raising specific concerns.

While attending the property, inspectors found wooden boards covering the two windows at the front of the house.

They described the garden immediately outside the premises as in a “poor state”, with mud and debris throughout.

“There was an old hutch, a dilapidated garden shed and what appears to be a wet wooden dog kennel with a chain attached and saturated bedding inside. No animals were seen here at the time,” an inspector said.

When they entered the flat, inspectors said there was a strong smell of urine and described it as a “slum”.

Jax, a black lurcher-type was found within the premises along with Jock, a white lurcher-type and a tan coloured staffie-type dog.

Five puppies were also found in a pen walking around in their own diarrhoea in the living room, with no clean or dry resting areas visible, the inspector said.

They added: “We noted the puppies appeared to be walking lethargically, it was evident immediately that they were exceptionally underweight with pot bellies indicative of a large worm burden.”

Veterinary reports showed the five puppies were “very small and significantly underweight” for their age.

The inspector added that if the conditions have continued any longer it would have resulted in the puppies becoming dehydrated and collapsing, potentially causing their deaths.

Fair was sentenced at Perth Sheriff Court on Wednesday, February 12.

He was disqualified from owning or keeping any domesticated, farm or wild animals of any kind, other than four dogs and four ferrets, for 12 months.

He was also given a deprivation order for an adult dog called Honey, five puppies and one kitten.

The SSPCA said it was “devastated” by the sentence Fair received and the fact he has been allowed to keep the eight animals currently in his care.