Award-winning dog owner banned for life over crates of filthy puppies

Tom Tuite

An award-winning dog owner was handed a lifetime animal ban on Tuesday for keeping puppies stacked in crates at a house reeking of filth and sewage in Dublin.

Anthony Costello, 45, of Church Road, Swords, received a four-month sentence, suspended for two years, for neglecting and causing suffering to six dogs last year.

Fingal County Council prosecuted him on 12 charges under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.

The father of one pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to six counts of neglect and another six for causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs. The offences happened after he had been previously banned from owning animals.

Judge Anthony Halpin said it was a serious offence and the dogs were in a “totally unfit” environment, but he accepted Costello did not intend to hurt them.

The court heard he buried his “head in the sand” when faced with other issues, and the judge held that those other factors “gave rise to his complete indifference to the health and safety of the animals”.

He held that the court’s sanction must reflect that.

Prosecution solicitor Michael P. Quinlan outlined the facts, telling the court that the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) notified the council about a complaint of an alleged puppy farm at Costello’s home.

Dog wardens, assisted by the DSPCA and gardaí, entered the property on November 8th, 2024, and found six dogs in various states of neglect or in cruel and neglectful conditions.

There was an “overwhelming” smell of faeces and urine in the house, garden, and the dog run outside. The dogs had no access to water or food and were in crates stacked on top of each other, the court heard.

They were seized and examined by vets who compiled assessment reports.

The first was a Wheaten Terrier with a grossly matted coat, underweight, with a body score of three out of nine, five being the normal condition. A second Wheaten Terrier was in the same conditions.

There was an eight-month-old bitch, and the court heard, “It was almost blind with cataracts”. The fourth dog, a six-month-old puppy, was underweight with muscle atrophy and a shoulder scar. Dog five was a female underweight; the sixth was aged six months, worm-infested, and very thin.

Photos were handed into court, which heard that Costello had prior convictions under the Animal Health and Welfare Act in November 2022 and that he received a jail sentence.

However, the part-time metal fabricator has not come to the council's attention since the house was searched last year.

Bakshi Mohit BL pleaded for leniency and furnished the court with photos of the property, telling the judge that there had been a drainage problem at the rented property, a Peter McVerry house.

Costello instructed his barrister that wastewater had been rising from the ground, and the accused contended that this explained the smell of faeces and urine.

From an early age, he had cared for or adopted dogs and kept them to a high standard, winning medals and awards, Judge Halpin was informed in mitigation.

However, Costello had been involved in other legal proceedings at the time and buried his head in the sand due to a combination of factors he was unable to handle. Counsel said his client knows he should have found someone to care for the dogs while he dealt with the drainage and other issues.

The defence pleaded with the court not to jail the accused, who cared for his elderly father, and the barrister stressed that Costello had not kept any dog since.

The judge accepted Mr Mohit’s submission that the guilty plea was valuable, as it avoided the prosecution having to call five witnesses and a lengthy hearing.

The council incurred bills amounting to €14,644 for animal care, plus another €1,850 in legal costs, but the judge held that there was no prospect of Costello discharging those expenses.

Mr Quinlan said Costello had been given a 10-year animal ban for his prior conviction, and the judge agreed to the solicitor’s request to now impose a lifetime ban, with the possibility of review at a later stage in the event he wished to keep dogs in the future.