A CEREDIGION man has been given a nine-week suspended prison sentence and has been banned from keeping dogs for four years.

Richard Samuel Morgan Jones of Moelfre, Llanwnnen, had been found guilty at trial at Aberystwyth Justice Centre in in a prosecution brought by Ceredigion County Council of two counts of illegal dog breeding and 21 counts of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs, which left some animals in his care “close to death”.

It followed two raids by council and police officers at his Moelfre address and at a premises at Y Shed, Blaen Finnian, Creuddyn Bridge, near Lampeter in June last year.

The court heard that Jones, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied any wrongdoing, did not have a licence for breeding at either address and, following a visit from officers, some of the dogs in his care were found “in complete darkness” with “advanced chronic skin conditions” with one young puppy so thin that it was “close to death”.

The disqualification has been suspended for 21 days in order to allow time for the dogs to be taken into the care of the Dogs Trust.