Men who put dogs through 'horrific' ear-cropping spoke of how not to get caught

Two men who put their dogs through "horrific" and "painful" ear-cropping procedures swapped messages about how not to get caught, a court heard.

Joshua Ryan Kwiathawski, 25, and Jamie Evans, 30, exchanged a number of texts on Whatsapp discussing the procedure, and how to ensure they were not reported to police.

In a series of messages, Evans asked when he could 'post a pic' of bull-type dog Riga, to which Kwiathawski replied: “Not for 4-6 weeks bro, no one in your gaff you don’t know," Wigan Magistrates Court was told.

Evans asked: “What do you mean mate”, and Kwiathawski replied: “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 dog's imported.”

The pair pleaded guilty to allowing the illegal practice to be carried out. They also failed to seek care for their dogs' injuries following the crop.

Their actions were uncovered when police seized Kwiathawski’s phone in an unrelated offence, which contained photos of another bull-type dog Ace with cropped ears.

Warrants were carried out by the RSPCA and police, where a second phone was seized which contained the distressing messages between the two men talking about Ace and Riga having their ears illegally cropped.

There were photos on their phones of both dogs as puppies with full ears, as well as images of the dogs after having the procedure.

The court also heard that Kwiathawski had advised Evans to put talc on Riga’s ears.

He left a voicenote 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 saying: “Sure he’s took this crop too far back on him.”

Kwiathawski, of Rose Avenue, Wigan, and Evans, of no fixed abode, were handed a 23-week prison sentence and banned them from keeping animals for 15 years.

Speaking 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 lifelong 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.