Scots cop takes down puppy farm after dog bought for her kids dies days later
Julie Taylor was caught red-handed with 16 terrified dogs, of various breeds, being held in a filthy toilet and covered in dog waste.
An off-duty cop brought down a puppy farm operation after a tiny dog she bought for her children died just three days later.
Elaine McArthur was among 20 people who bought puppies from Julie Taylor, who was selling dogs riddled with disease from her council house in Stewarton, Ayrshire. After enduring a three-day nightmare over a Christmas weekend, Elaine's cockapoo pup Marley fought for life then died of deadly parvo virus.
Distraught mum Elaine turned the tables on Taylor by calling in SSPCA investigators, who raided the trader's home and shut the operation down. Taylor, 41, was caught red-handed with 16 terrified dogs, of various breeds, being held in a filthy toilet and covered in dog waste.
Taylor admitted cruelty and operating without a licence, which saw her banned from keeping dogs for 10 years at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court yesterday. Police constable Elaine, from Kilmarnock, told how she was buying the pup for her 11-year-old twins Jack and Amy two days before Christmas in 2023.
All three had fallen in love with the pup on sight. But after taking the pup home he fell ill with parvo virus and a vet had to put him to sleep three days later.
Elaine said: 'The experience was very traumatic for all of us and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. It was a real ordeal for the family and it was all about these people making easy money. Amy was really badly affected by it all. She didn't want another dog because she was really broken hearted.'
She added: 'The only positive thing I can say, which is also terrible, is that if I hadn't gone along there the pup might have died alone in what was effectively a cage, suffering a terrible death. I also hope that we managed to put these people out of business, although I'm sure the people supplying the pups will still be operating elsewhere.'
Taylor had told customers on sites like Pets4Homes that the pups were the offspring of her family's pet. But the sales methods by sneaky Taylor – who allowed other sellers to use her home on David Dale Avenue – has been described as 'straight out of the handbook for puppy farm shop fronts' by an SSPCA inspector.
Elaine – a PC with 30 years' experience – said alarm bells were sounded due to the bad smell in the house. She was swayed because she didn't want to go back to kids Amy and Jack without a pup.
The police officer said Marley was frail when they got him home and started to cough up traces of blood. Elaine, 52, took Marley to the vet, where parvo virus was diagnosed.
She told how she went straight to Stewarton to confront the seller, a woman who called herself Jackie. But she ended up face to face with Julie Taylor, to whom she'd transferred £800 to buy the pup.
She said: 'I was really upset but I was also angry and I was determined to stop the same thing happening to other families. I went straight from the vet to Stewarton along with a friend and by the time I got there another couple had turned up at the door to buy another dog. I advised them to clear out because my dog had been diagnosed with parvo.'
While Elaine was there, Taylor appeared and she said that Jackie was her sister. Elaine managed to get Taylor to refund the £800 she paid for the pup, as well as agree to pay the vet's bill of £1200.
She said: 'I didn't say what I did for a living but I told her to go ahead and call whoever she liked, as I was doing everything I was entitled to – including calling the SSPCA.'
Elaine was determined to see justice done and supported the investigation into Taylor – resulting in a conviction for animal abuse. Taylor admitted neglecting the pets and selling them without a licence and at her home between July 2023 and March 2024.
She failed to take steps to ensure the needs of the animals were met from December 2023 to March 2024 at her home and elsewhere. Taylor also cruelly separated puppies from their mothers and failed to provide them with suitable and hygienic living conditions.
She pleaded guilty, with not guilty pleas accepted regarding 20 further allegations. In court yesterday, Taylor's defence lawyer Graeme Cunningham said he could not deny that she was the front of an 'abhorrent' puppy farm operation, where dogs were badly treated then sold on for large amounts of cash.
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Cunningham said his client had found herself in debt to criminals who masterminded the operation and was repaying the majority of her sordid profits to them. He said: 'This is a puppy farm in a council estate in Stewarton. It is a trade that the vast majority of decent people would think to be abhorrent.'
The lawyer admitted that Taylor had been overwhelmed by the pups and was unable to care for them – despite having two dogs of her own that were allowed to sleep in her own bed. Passing sentence, Sheriff Morag Fraser said she would show mercy to Taylor for her good previous record but passed the most serious alternative available to her.
She said: 'I have to think of animal protection. The condition of these dogs was awful and they must have suffered a great deal.'
She banned Taylor for 10 years from keeping animals and imposed a Community Payback Order of 18 months, to include unpaid work of 240 hours. Taylor was ordered to wear a tag to restrict her movements for five months.
She will also face a Proceeds of Crime investigation and could have thousands of pounds clawed back.
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