A Cork dog breeder who was found to have 1 dog and 12 puppies kept in what the ISPCA described as "horrific" conditions has been sentenced to jail.
Vasyl Fedoryn (41) of Ballypierce, Charleville, Co Cork was sentenced to five months in jail with two months suspended at Mallow District Court.
Fodoryn appeared before the court on April 1, where Judge Colm Roberts ordered him pay almost €20,000 in costs and fines, and banned him from keeping any animals for 15 years.
The judge described his lack of care for his dogs as “absolutely appalling”. The judge was told in court on Tuesday that the defendant had breached an undertaking to the court not to keep any animals on his property.
Meg Burke BL, for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said a probation report on the accused was “somewhat concerning” as it revealed he had sought to minimise the harm he had done to the dogs, and had very little insight into his offending.
The report found the defendant was at low risk of reoffending, but she said the department took a different view as ISPCA Inspector Faherty had visited the defendant’s home on two occasions and found he was still keeping cats.
Judge Roberts acknowledged that the accused had no previous convictions but said the level of cruelty to the animals was significant and that he was worried by the accused’s lack of insight into his offending. The judge said: “his neglect of these animals was absolutely appalling. He seems to have no regard for other sentient beings."
The defendant had pleaded guilty in court earlier this year to nine breaches of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. At the January hearing, the court heard evidence from ISPCA Animal Welfare Inspector Caroline Faherty who responded to a complaint from a concerned member of the public on April 21, 2023.
Inspector Faherty told the court how she had discovered thirteen dogs, Collies and German Shepherds, living in horrendous conditions in dark, filthy sheds, and without access to water. Videos of the scene were played in court.
A German Shepherd bitch and twelve puppies were found with no bedding, and with fur matted with faeces. She noted that rats were also living in the shed.
The ISPCA had to break padlocks to get into one of the sheds and the inspector said the “horrific” conditions were some of the worst she had faced in her career.
All the dogs were seized on the spot.
Inspector Faherty told the court that the smell was so "putrid and stomach-turning" that she repeatedly retched and had to leave the sheds for air. She had to change into rubber boots and oilskins to enter the sheds as there were faeces and sewerage on the ground.
Three German Shepherd pups could not walk properly as they had no muscle mass in their legs due to being malnourished. They were walking on their back knees. Inspector Faherty described some of the Collies as feral, and “extremely nervous." She said: “a lack of stimulation had resulted in the Collie dogs being so nervous, that they were feral and tried to bite."
The court also heard that, although every effort was made to rehabilitate the dogs with veterinary interventions, high-level nutrition, and physiotherapy, four of the dogs had to be euthanised based on veterinary advice. These included a young German Shepherd whose limbs were so deformed he could not bear any weight and three feral Collie dogs that did not respond to rehabilitation efforts.
On Tuesday, Fedoryn was sentenced to five months in jail with two months suspended, fined €500, and ordered to pay €16,450 rehoming costs for the animals to the ISPCA and legal costs of €3,000 to the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine. He was also disqualified from owning or keeping any animal for 15 years.
