Thanks to UK Animal Cruelty Files for the following article.
CONVICTED | former head gamekeeper David Scott, 34, from Dufftown, Keith, Moray, Scotland – kept 14 dogs in appalling conditions at his family home. Charges relating to filmed dog fighting and setting a dog on a snared fox were dropped as part of a plea bargain.
Scott admitted a catalogue of animal welfare offences in relation to the 14 dogs.
The Crown accepted a not guilty plea from his wife, Gillian Scott (pictured).
The court heard Scott had been head gamekeeper at Cabrach and Glenfiddich Estates until the raid on his home in September 2022.
Fiscal depute Karen Poke said the Scottish SPCA’s special investigation unit had received a tip-off about the welfare of animals being kept by the Scotts during August 2022 and attended the scene with police.
There they found three “wet, extremely dirty” and “totally unacceptable” kennel blocks, each without any sleeping areas for the dogs.
Ms Poke said: “There was a strong smell of faeces and urine abundant throughout the kennels,
“There were no dry areas for the dogs to lie down and no evidence of any dog food.”
The officers found a barrel full of rotten meat and fish it was suggested this is what the dogs were being fed.
All 14 dogs were removed to the care of the SSPCA and were said to have been “suffering and in distress”.
Scott admitted causing unnecessary suffering and pain to dogs by not seeking veterinary treatment or providing them with essential care.
As part of a plea bargain, a not guilty plea to a charge that Scott trained a male black and tan dog called Boysie to fight and supplied videos of his brawls was accepted by the Crown.
The dog-fights were said to have taken place at the home address.
Another offence, whilst at Cabrach and Glenfiddich Estate on July 13 2022, of snaring a fox and letting his dog attack it, was also dropped.
Defence counsel Callum Anderson said the Scotts had been going through a “difficult period” in their lives at the time of the police raid.
Mr Anderson said Mrs Scott still owns two dogs as family pets and said the lapse was due to “dramatic circumstances”, including the death of her father and a medical issue around the date of the offences.
“They accept they were not dealing with matters at that time. That is the reason why veterinary treatment was neglected,” he said.
Sentencing | fined £1,275. Banned from owning more than two dogs for just three years.
https://ukanimalcrueltyfiles.org/dufftown-moray-david-scott/