A man and woman, who ran a north-east puppy farm, have been found guilty of causing almost 100 animals “unnecessary suffering”.
Frank James and Michelle Wood were convicted of failing to provide proper care and treatment for 90 dogs, as well as rabbits and ferrets, at East Mains of Ardlogie, near Fyvie.
The pair had gone on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in May, facing a charge of causing unnecessary suffering and animal neglect, and it resumed today.
Throughout his evidence James had insisted he had not been responsible for the day-to-day running of the farm.
However he also admitted that he had lived there, paid for pet food and taken animals to the vets.
Evidence from vets and the Scottish SPCA also placed James, who had previously been banned from keeping animals, as the man running the farm.
James claimed that he had a peripheral role, offering some advice to Wood, who ran the farm on behalf of his daughter, Elizabeth.
But Sheriff Sukhwinder Gill dismissed this evidence and said he was trying to divert blame.
Wood’s solicitor, Leonard Burkinshaw, had argued she was a “patsy” for James.
Both were found guilty and will be sentenced next month.
