Woman Jailed over Neglect of 191 Dogs

Most of the dogs were kept in crates and cages in a remote Devon field, the court heard - RSPCA
Most of the dogs were kept in crates and cages in a remote Devon field, the court heard - RSPCA
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Woman Jailed over Neglect of 191 Dogs

Most of the dogs were kept in crates and cages in a remote Devon field, the court heard - RSPCA
Most of the dogs were kept in crates and cages in a remote Devon field, the court heard - RSPCA

A woman who kept 191 dogs in "pitiful" conditions in Devon has been jailed.

Diana Curtis, 66, of Peters Marland, had kept the dogs in crates and cages in a remote field near Chittlehamholt and in kennels near Chulmleigh Cross, Exeter Crown Court heard, BBC reported.

Curtis had previously pleaded guilty to seven counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

She was jailed for 25 months and handed a lifetime ban from owning animals.

Two animals had to be put down, while others were found with scars, infected wounds and missing ears, probably caused by fighting, the court was told.

The RSPCA said three other puppies also died because of their ill health.

Sentencing, Judge James Adkin said pictures showed the dogs were in "a truly pitiful condition".

"You put yourself and your own feelings before the animals causing them considerable suffering," he said.

The court heard Curtis moved 99 dogs to a remote field with no water or electricity supply near Chittlehamholt.

Other dogs were kept in kennels in Chulmleigh Cross.

Local farmer Bill Bowen tipped off police because of the noise of the barking animals, the court was told.

RSPCA inspectors said they found dogs kept in cramped conditions standing on top of one another to drink water.

Curtis later turned up in a lorry with another 92 dogs inside, the court heard.

The court heard she had already been banned from keeping animals after being convicted in December 2023 of ill-treating horses, chickens and ducks.

For those offences, she was jailed for 16 weeks, suspended for 12 months, and told to pay £10,000 costs.

Mr Bowen said he spent more than two hours on the phone to police after he and his daughter discovered the dogs in the field.

He said it was a shocking sight to see with many of the dogs looking ill.

"Three days later it snowed really heavily and a lot of those dogs would have died in that snow," Mr Bowen said.



South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary Plan Blocked at Int’l Meeting

A juvenile pygmy blue whale swims, following a rescue operation by members of the Department of Conservation New Zealand in Kawau Island, New Zealand, September 16, 2024. Department Of Conservation New Zealand/Handout via REUTERS
A juvenile pygmy blue whale swims, following a rescue operation by members of the Department of Conservation New Zealand in Kawau Island, New Zealand, September 16, 2024. Department Of Conservation New Zealand/Handout via REUTERS
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South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary Plan Blocked at Int’l Meeting

A juvenile pygmy blue whale swims, following a rescue operation by members of the Department of Conservation New Zealand in Kawau Island, New Zealand, September 16, 2024. Department Of Conservation New Zealand/Handout via REUTERS
A juvenile pygmy blue whale swims, following a rescue operation by members of the Department of Conservation New Zealand in Kawau Island, New Zealand, September 16, 2024. Department Of Conservation New Zealand/Handout via REUTERS

A proposal to establish a sanctuary for whales and other cetacean species in the southern Atlantic Ocean was rejected at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on Thursday, disappointing animal conservationists, Reuters reported.
At the IWC's annual session in Lima, Peru, 40 countries backed a plan to create a safe haven that would ban commercial whale hunting from West Africa to the coasts of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, extending a protected area already in place in the Southern Ocean.
However, 14 countries opposed the plan, meaning it narrowly failed to get the 75% of votes required.
Among the opponents were Norway, one of the three countries that still engage in commercial whaling, along with Iceland and Japan. Iceland abstained, while Japan left the IWC in 2019.
Petter Meier, head of the Norwegian delegation, told the meeting that the proposal "represents all that is wrong" about the IWC, adding that a sanctuary was "completely unnecessary".
Norway, Japan and Iceland made 825 whale catches worldwide last year, according to data submitted to the IWC.
Whaling fleets "foreign to the region" have engaged in "severe exploitation" of most species of large whales in the South Atlantic, and a sanctuary would help maintain current populations, the proposal said.
The South Atlantic is home to 53 species of whales and other cetaceans, such as dolphins, with many facing extinction risks, said the proposal. It also included a plan to protect cetaceans from accidental "bycatch" by fishing fleets.
"It's a bitter disappointment that the proposal ... has yet again been narrowly defeated by nations with a vested interest in killing whales for profit," said Grettel Delgadillo, Latin America deputy director at Humane Society International, an animal conservation group.
An effort by Antigua and Barbuda to declare whaling a source of "food security" did not gain support, and the IWC instead backed a proposal to maintain a global moratorium on commercial whaling in place since 1986.
"Considering the persistent attempts by pro-whaling nations to dismantle the 40-year-old ban, the message behind this proposal is much needed," said Delgadillo.