RSPCA: American bulldog breeders get lifetime ban - after puppies starved so badly their spines were deformed

Warning: Some of the photos and content in this story may be distressing.

A couple who bred American bulldogs has been banned from keeping animals for life - after six puppies in their care were so malnourished that their spines became deformed.

Stephanie Boyd, 42, and Daniel Jordan, 35, both of Uxbridge Grove in Hull, were this month sentenced at Hull Magistrates’ Court, after earlier pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering. As well as a lifetime ban on keeping animals, they were both given a four-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay costs of £400 each.

The court heard that on 28 December 2022, a man took the six emaciated puppies into a rescue centre, claiming his child had found them abandoned on a street. The RSPCA was contacted and an appeal for information was made in the media - by the independent rescue centre which was caring for the puppies. Sadly, two of the puppies died overnight, with the surviving four needing urgent veterinary care.

As a result of the media coverage, a member of the public contacted the RSPCA naming Boyd and Jordan as the breeders. The court heard that RSPCA inspector Claire Mitchell visited Boyd and Jordan’s address and spoke to them. In a witness statement, Inspector Mitchell wrote: “I asked what had happened to their most recent puppies and Stephanie said that six puppies had been rehomed at the beginning of December to a man she didn’t know and had no details of.”

The man who took the puppies to the rescue centre had left a phone number, which she discovered matched Jordan’s. “At this point I suspected that it was Daniel Jordan that had dropped off the puppies [at the rescue centre] and that they had never been dumped," she said.

A vet who examined the surviving puppies - three males and one female - said in a witness statement that the dogs, who were about four months old, were in a poor body condition. “They had no muscle mass and bony prominences visible under the skin. All four puppies had a body condition score of one out of nine, where one is emaciated, and nine is obese.

“All of the puppies had a hunched posture, appearance of curved spines and malnourishment and some live fleas were visible in their coats.," she added. “I suspected that the postural deformities shown in these puppies was due to malnutrition and limited exercise over a prolonged period. In my opinion the puppies were suffering for a minimum of two weeks to get into the condition they were in, but likely longer, possibly up to two months."

Sadly, one of the surviving puppies' condition did not improve, and it was put to sleep to end its suffering. The other three made a full recovery, and have since been rehomed.

After the sentencing, Inspector Mitchell added: “They claimed the puppies had been found abandoned, but what actually happened was that Boyd and Jordan had bred them and then did not give them the proper nutrition and exercise required, resulting in them becoming ill. It is sad that three of the puppies did not survive.

“However, the three surviving puppies went onto new homes and now have new lives," she said. "We’re grateful to the members of the public and the rescue centre for their help in bringing this case to court.”