A Rochdale man has been handed a 16-week prison term, suspended for 2 years after pleading guilty to breeding dogs without a licence and failing to properly look after animals in his care.
The man was also banned from owning, keeping or transporting dogs for 10 years.
Patrick Lynch, 49, of no fixed address, was sentenced on Friday, 16 May 2025 at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court, after admitting offences contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 at a previous hearing in the same court on 12 December 2024.
The court heard that Rochdale Borough Council’s Trading Standards team executed a warrant at an address in Foxholes Close, Rochdale, on 21 March 2023, after intelligence indicated that somebody living at the address was breeding dogs without a licence.
On entering the property, the team found 3 Rottweiler puppies coved in faeces in a filthy 6-feet by 4-feet bathroom.
The room the puppies were found in was so squalid it was described by a vet in attendance as smelling overwhelmingly of urine and faeces. Urine and faeces were on the floor and walls of the room and no bedding was provided for the animals. The dogs were immediately removed and placed into kennels.
All 3 dogs later developed parvovirus, a highly contagious virus that affects dogs, and had to be put down.
In addition to the sentence, Mr Lynch was ordered to pay £2,400 prosecution costs, alongside a £154 victim surcharge.
Councillor Tricia Ayrton, cabinet member for climate change and environment at Rochdale Borough Council, said:
“Our Trading Standards teams use all the powers available to them to protect the public and these powers extend to the protection of animals too. They worked hard to build this case and I’m pleased with the result. Mr Lynch was clearly not a fit person to be owning animals, and the fact that he was driven by profit, makes this case all the more upsetting. I hope this sentence sends a clear message out to other people who think it’s okay to abuse animals, that there is no hiding place for them and we will act on any intelligence we receive.”