A 63-year-old woman has been given a four-month suspended sentence and has been banned from keeping animals for life after she was discovered to have been mistreating almost 80 dogs.
Sandra Hennessy of Dunmoon, North Tallow, Co Waterford, was sentenced before Judge John O’Leary at Dungarvan District Court having pleaded guilty to 22 summons under the Animal Welfare Act of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs at her former address at Dyrick, Ballinamult, Co Waterford, on dates between July 2024 and February 2025.
The offences were contrary to Sections: 11, 12 and 13 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.
Prosecuting Counsel, Brian Kearney, B.L., told the court that the accused had entered a guilty plea before the court, while there were some 70 dogs involved.
Alice Leacy, Senior Animal Welfare Inspector, told the court about her first visit to the house of Ms Hennessy on 23 July last year as the result of an animal welfare concern.
On arrival she met Ms Hennessy who at first said there were some 29 dogs, but on further inspection, there were up to 79.
About 20 of the dogs were in the house, with the remainder in outhouses in makeshift pens and cages, with the bedding made up of cardboard boxes and plastic boxes.
The sheds were extremely dark, the dogs were quite dirty, while the pen doors were closed. Some 30 dogs were in a small area in a shed in separate and small kennels.
The breed of dogs were a small terrier mix, some Yorkshire Terriers.
Although the dogs were being fed, they had ear infections, eye infections and respiratory conditions.
Ms Leacy told of a Lurcher dog being wrapped in a blanket with women’s sanitary towels wrapped over the dog’s body.
Having looked at the dog and removed one of the sanitary towels, she found the dog had wounds down to the bone.
Of some 59 other dogs found, some were heavily pregnant.
A heavily pregnant dog was found alongside a mother and puppies in a bath with another pregnant female.
There were other pregnant females elsewhere on the property.
The lurcher dog, she added, had some horrific injuries which came under the Animal Welfare Protection Act.
The dog was later euthanised and Ms Leacy described the shoulder bone and other bones being visible when the dog was moved.
On 30 July some 34 dogs were removed from the house, while on 29 August, a further 21 dogs were removed.
They came under the care of the charity organisation Dogs Trust, with some of poor weight and suffering chronic ear infections.
Following those dates Ms Hennessy had retained ten dogs at her new address, after being told being told she had to reduce the number of dogs.
Replying to Mr. Kearney, B.L., Ms Leacy said that given the severity of the case, along with the animal welfare issues, the dogs having gone through extreme suffering, she believed there should be some form of disqualification.
The costs, including veterinary, x-rays and other costs to the ISPCA came to some €5,582.
Not a puppy farm
Defence Counsel Sara Jane Comerford told the court there was not a puppy farm enterprise involved and it was not a case of buying and breeding and selling, rather it was a gathering of dogs.
Ms Comerford said Ms Hennessy was living in the house while there were dogs in each room.
Replying to Ms Comerford, Ms Leacy said the lurcher dog was in a real tragic condition.
A number of pictures of the dogs were produced to Judge O’Leary, while pictures of the ten dogs at the current address were also produced to the court.
Replying to Ms Comerford, Ms Leacy also told of some of the dogs having body sores, adding that it was hard for her to get past some of the welfare issues.
Ms Comerford said the accused is a single woman who accepts dogs into her home.
While she did not have them neutered, the result of breeding among the dogs got out of hand, she added.
“This morning she was quite emotional in court at having let this happen. She let the dogs down and found it quite hard to talk about it,” Ms Comerford said.
Ms Comerford said there had been learnings and accepts she cannot have any more than ten dogs, knowing she is not in a position to care for any more.
She said there are a number of options open to the court regarding sentencing.
In respect of the expenses, there is no real prospect of Ms Hennessy meeting them currently.
Judge O’Leary said that having heard the facts, that this is “a very serious case”.
He said he would impose a four month sentence on each of the 22 summonses, before the court, to run concurrently, suspending the sentences for one year.
Judge O’Leary said he would also impose a lifetime ban under Section 58 of the Animal Welfare Act of keeping any animals, while he also ordered that the ten dogs currently at her property be removed immediately.
He gave no order as to the costs.
Recognizances of €200 were fixed in the event of an appeal.