Three owners of an illegal puppy farm that was operating in Dagenham have been found guilty at court and have been ordered to pay costs totalling £85,000, given community service and banned from keeping dogs for several years.

Barking and Dagenham Council became aware of the puppy farm after a complaint was made in October 2019 relating to a purchase of a puppy whose health sadly deteriorated quickly after it was taken home. The complaint led to an investigation into unlicensed dog breeding activity.

After a thorough investigation, the council obtained a warrant and enforcement officers raided the property on 10 December 2019.

On entering the premises, the officers found nine dogs including Huskies, Pitbull Terriers (which were being sold as Staffordshire Terriers) and a French Bulldog living in terrible conditions. One dog was chained up and another in a small cage and both were left in their faeces with no clean water. Others were being kept in a dirty bathroom. The owner had been selling the dogs for up to £700 each and the council seized the remaining nine dogs.

There were two people involved in the running of the farm operating from 100 Sterry Road, Dagenham – Mr Raimundas Pazdrazdis and his brother Sigitas Pazdrazdis.

After a thorough investigation from the council, the case went to Romford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 16 June and all three were found guilty with Mr Raimundas Pazdrazdis convicted for all 16 charges.

Sentencing took place on Friday 22 July and the defendants were sentenced with the following:

Raimundas
12-month community order with 300 hours unpaid work
Removal of his six dogs
Banned from keeping dogs for seven years
Due to his three Pit Bulls being classed as unsafe, they will be put down
Costs of £75,000 to be paid in 12 months.

Sigitas
12-month community order with 150 hours unpaid work
Removal of his two dogs
Banned from keeping dogs for five years
Due to his one Pit Bull being classed as unsafe, it will be put down 
Costs of £7,500 to be paid at £200 per month

Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety said: “This is a fantastic result as not only have we protected the public from buying dogs that might be unsafe, but the defendants have been banned from keeping dogs for several years.

“We won’t stand for dogs or any other animal being treated in this despicable way and if we find out somebody is mistreating them, we will make sure that we go all out to take the strongest action.”

If a resident is concerned that a similar puppy farm (or another animal) is being operated, they should report it to grimecrime@lbbd.gov.uk.