Linda Moran: Crufts winner found guilty of breeding, selling and boarding dogs without a licence at her Yorkshire kennels

Linda Moran, 63, is no longer allowed to sell puppies or take in pets on a boarding basis at A1 Boarding Kennels & Cattery in Brompton-on-Swale, near Richmond.

She lost her breeding licence in September 2022, and two months later voluntarily surrendered her boarding licence.

Yet when Richmondshire Council licensing officers inspected A1 four months later in April 2023, they discovered 66 dogs at the premises, including some in the boarding unit.

They had visited the kennels after officer Katie Beyer found adverts for puppies on the website Pets4Homes which described Moran as a ‘licensed’ seller. They had only recently been uploaded to the site.

A witness, Lesley Johnson, also confirmed that she had purchased a Lhasa Apso puppy from Moran in the same month the adverts were placed.

Moran was charged with contravening the Animal Welfare Act by breeding, advertising for sale and boarding dogs without a licence to do so. She denied the three counts and appeared at York Magistrates Court for trial on March 6.

As part of the conditions of her licence revocation, Moran was given advice by council officers and informed that she must remove any remaining adverts for puppies. The Pets4Homes listings, which Ms Beyer took screenshots of, had been active for as little as a week and displayed a licence number.

During the inspection visit, Moran was present and engaged with council staff. She told them the dogs boarding were there on a ‘private arrangement’ and that she believed she could still breed up to three litters a year from her own pet Dogues de Bordeaux without needing a licence.

Two customers, Shane Boulton and Nigel Buckle, were called as prosecution witnesses by North Yorkshire Council. Mr Boulton said he had agreed with Moran that he would pay for his dog and cat’s boarding once their stay in April 2023 was over. He had used A1’s services before, but did not know Moran in a personal capacity. He was on holiday in Germany when he was contacted and told his pets had been removed from the kennels.

Mr Buckle, a farmer, arranged for his dog, Lou, to stay at A1 for several months in early 2023 while he received hospital treatment for the loss of his eye in a farming accident. He still visited the kennels to walk Lou, and on these occasions handed over the boarding fees in cash. He considered it a business arrangement, but received no invoice and told the court that he could not recall Moran saying that the money was only to cover food. She charged a total of around £550, but he said both the kennels and his dog’s condition ‘deteriorated’ during this period.

Moran’s defence solicitor argued that the boarding arrangement was not a trading one as she only received expenses. He said puppies were ‘left over’ from litters born before her licence was withdrawn.

Giving evidence, witness Lesley Johnson said she attended Moran’s grooming unit after responding to an online advert. She claimed that she saw between eight and nine puppies in the room that Moran told her were from both the advertised and another litter, and she was given the impression they were all for sale. However, she ended up buying a Lhasa Apso that was not from the advert. Ms Johnson was given a significant discount on the advertised price because Moran did not have Kennel Club papers for the dog. She was given a receipt and vaccination record, and the money was paid into Moran’s personal bank account via a transfer.

Although Moran admitted that she was still advertising dogs in April 2023, she said there were no other puppies intended for sale present when Ms Johnson visited. She claimed the puppy she sold to her was from a litter born to a dog Moran had previously owned and sold to another breeder, and that she was given the ‘pick’. She said any dogs present were adults.

She maintained that this dog was the only one she had sold after her licence was revoked and that it had been born in June 2022, before the expiration. She said she did not believe the adverts were ever ‘taken off’ the selling sites.

In respect of the boarding, Moran said that longstanding customers had continued to contact her asking her to take their pets, but that she told them she was no longer licensed and that she could take them if they gave her money towards food.

She accepted she had received an email from the council regarding the surrender of her licence, and that the guidance included that she must cease all licensable activities, which included cancelling bookings and taking down her signage. She said she had ‘edited’ the signs outside the kennels but admitted the gates were not locked.

When the prosecution argued that Shane Boulton had not been a ‘longstanding’ customer, Moran maintained she had told him she had no licence, but admitted there was no written evidence of this. She continued to insist that there had been ‘no litter’ when Lesley Johnson came to the kennels. The council alleged she had earned over £1,000 from the sale of puppies.

When asked how she had funded the care of over 60 dogs if she had no income, Moran said her earnings came from grooming services and a shop she opened.

Closing his case, Moran’s defence added that she did not require a licence if her trading income was below the HMRC threshold and that recollections of the witnesses ‘were not always correct’.

Magistrates found Moran guilty on all counts, saying that her evidence was ‘not credible’ and that she had contradicted much of the testimony.

The case was adjourned for sentencing in April and the council has applied for Moran to be disqualified from keeping dogs.

Moran was previously convicted last October of keeping dogs in inadequate conditions, and fined £3,000 including costs. As part of the penalty she agreed to work with the RSPCA to reduce the number of rescue animals in her care. She was a winner at Crufts in 2022.