Two Wigan men jailed for having their dogs' ears cropped illegally

Joshua Kwiathawski, 25, of Rose Avenue, Beech Hill, and Jamie Evans 30, of no fixed address, were jailed for 23 weeks and banned from keeping animals for 15 years by Wigan magistrates.

The pair had pleaded guilty to allowing ear cropping to be carried out on their bull-type dogs, named Riga and Ace, and failing to seek veterinary care for their injuries.

The court heard police seized Kwiathawski’s phone on an unrelated offence and found photographs of Ace with cropped ears.

Two warrants were executed by the RSPCA and police, and a second phone was seized containing messages where the two men spoke about Ace and Riga having their ears cropped.

There were photographs of both dogs as puppies with full ears, as well as images after the procedure.

The court heard Kwiathawski advised Evans to put talc on Riga’s ears, with one voice note saying: “Once you've took the scabs off and talced his ears he will look exactly like Ace does on that picture where his ears are dead white and they are up tall and you can hardly see any scabs. It just looks like loads of talc on the outsides of his ears. That’s what it will look like bro.”

Evans replied: “Sure he’s took this crop too far back on him.”

In a conversation on WhatsApp, Evans asked when he could “post a pic” of Riga, to which Kwiathawski replied: “Not for 4-6 weeks bro, no one in your gaff you don’t know.”

Kwiathawski continued: “Don’t have anyone in your house or seeing the dog you don’t know, if they see fresh wounds they could report you.

“Only post on your private snapchat mate people who you trust and if anyone asks obvs the dogs imported.”

Ear cropping is illegal in England, but dogs can still be legally imported into the country having had the procedure overseas.

In a statement to the court, vet Dr Sean Taylor said: “In my opinion there is sufficient evidence … that Ace and Riga have both undergone ear cropping procedures.

“Mutilation of the ear pinna for reasons of cosmetic look is prohibited within the RCVS professional code of conduct and should not be carried out by veterinary surgeons within the UK.

“I have not been provided with any evidence to indicate that Ace and Riga had their ears cropped for reasons of medical necessity. In the absence of such evidence it is assumed that these dogs had their ears cropped for cosmetic reasons and in my opinion would have suffered via mechanisms of pain and ear irritation after the cropping procedure for a period of at least five days, possibly longer.”

After sentencing, RSPCA inspector Emma Dingley said: “Ear cropping is a horrific practice which has absolutely no benefits for the dogs and can cause them life-long health, behavioural and social problems.

“This is done purely for cosmetic purposes and sadly can lead to puppies being sold for much more money. But we’d urge the public and anyone looking to buy a puppy to remember that this is an illegal procedure which has hugely negative impacts for the dogs themselves.”

The dogs are now in RSPCA care.