A former Carlisle woman has been given a 16-week suspended prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and breaches of her dog breeding and dog daycare licenses.
The successful prosecution of Kelly Latuskie, put forward by Carlisle City Council, was heard at Carlisle’s magistrates’ court on September 8 and sentencing was held yesterday.
She pleaded guilty to the following charges:
- Failing to ensure the welfare of the dogs in her care by not protecting them from pain and suffering through failing to have them treated for dental disease.
- Exceeding the terms of her breeding licence.
- Exceeding the terms of her dog daycare licence.
- Failing to have sufficient qualified staff at her dog daycare business.
Latuskie was sentenced to 16 weeks suspended for 18 months and was ordered to pay costs of £16,961.83 and a victim surcharge of £128.
As the local licensing authority, Carlisle City Council investigated and then took forward the prosecution.
Kelly Latuskie was licensed to breed dogs by Carlisle City Council and was licensed to have four breeding bitches and to have no more than one litter of puppies on-site at any one time. She also held a licence to operate a dog daycare business in Carlisle, where she was allowed to accommodate a maximum of 30 dogs.
A complaint was received alleging that she had been breeding more puppies than her licence allowed. A separate complaint alleged that she regularly exceeded the maximum number of dogs permitted at her dog daycare business.
All dogs must now be fitted with a unique microchip to identify them.
The official microchipping databases were contacted, which revealed that she had registered and sold at least 117 cavapoo and cockapoo puppies between June 18, 2019, and December 2020. When asked, she failed to account for this number, and so a warrant was obtained from Carlisle’s magistrates’ court to search her home.
An unannounced visit was made by officers on December 22.
Twenty-two dogs were found on-site in squalid dirty conditions. There were 20 breeding bitches and 2 stud dogs. Many of the dogs were suffering from ear infections and dental disease, and some were in a serious condition.
The council’s appointed veterinary surgeon, who attended, described the dogs as suffering from chronic neglect and noted that their health was deteriorating. Not one of the dogs was correctly registered with the microchipping databases.
At the same time, a visit was made to the dog daycare business, where records were found to show that the maximum number of dogs on-site had been exceeded, and staff were left to supervise more than 10 dogs each, which is the recommended ratio to ensure that good welfare standards for the dogs can be met.
A request was made to Carlisle City Council’s Licensing Regulatory Panel on January 20 to revoke Kelly Latuskie’s licenses, which was unanimously agreed by the panel with immediate effect. This decision was appealed to the First-Tier tribunal on May 10. The tribunal upheld the decision of the Regulatory Panel to revoke the licenses.
The judge at the tribunal found her guilty of:
- Keeping dogs in squalid, filthy conditions.
- Deliberately exceeding the conditions of her breeding licence for financial gain.
- Neglecting her dogs and allowing their health to deteriorate.
- Allowing bitches to have two litters within six months
- Regularly allowing up to 50 dogs at her dog-day care business, sometimes allowing a single staff member to look after 30 dogs
- Providing inadequate transport and accommodation controls which resulted in five dogs being killed by other dogs, either in kennels or when being transported to her dog-day care business.
Gareth Ellis, deputy leader of Carlisle City Council, said: “Our officers have undertaken a thorough investigation and their outstanding diligence and hard work has resulted in a successful court prosecution.
“We take our licensing responsibilities very seriously and urge anyone with a licence to abide by the law. This case highlights serious issues of animal welfare. These animals deserve to be treated fairly and should not be subject to any form of neglect.”
In addition to the sentencing yesterday, the court had previously issued a banning order which prohibits her from owning or keeping animals.
It also prohibits Kelly Latuskie, now of Waterbeck, Lockerbie, from working in a business involving animals, from dealing or transporting animals.
She may not appeal to the court to have this order lifted for three years.
The order applies in England, Wales and Scotland, and comes into effect today.
She will never again be able to apply for a licence with a local authority to operate a business that involves animals.
