@c5news: "One of the most challenging and distressing cases our experienced team have been involved in." A former Crufts winner has been banned from owning dogs for a decade after 77 hounds were found seriously neglected, living in squalor, at her home in southeast Wales. Five of the dogs were so unwell they had to be put down. Lynda Cooper, whose gun dog won six awards at the world's largest dog show in 2016, admitted 11 welfare offences - which included causing unnecessary suffering to animals and failing to meet the dogs' welfare needs as well as breeding dogs without a licence on 19 June. She was later given a 12-month jail term, suspended for two years, ordered to pay the council £10,000 and banned from owning dogs for 10 years. Torfaen Council's Licensing Team received a complaint about dogs and suspected illegal breeding in Pontypool in July 2024. The following month, Cooper asked to surrender 23 dogs. Rescuers were “immediately concerned” for the welfare of the surrendered dogs who were living in “very troubling” conditions, along with others at the property the owner refused to give up. Animal Licensing Wales later granted permission, and a further 54 dogs were rescued. “Experienced staff were horrified by what they encountered,” Hope Rescue said in a statement, describing the condition of many of the dogs as “devastating”. Sara Rosser, Hope Rescue’s Head of Operations, said: "This was one of the most challenging and distressing cases our experienced team have been involved in. Not only from the sheer number of dogs but also their condition.” Cooper's defence counsel reportedly told Cardiff Crown Court that she had “spiralled” after a bereavement, with the maltreatment “done, not out of deliberate or malicious intent, but out of neglect”. They added that the situation had become “out of hand” but “otherwise she had been a loving and good pet owner”. #5news #Wales #dogs

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Monday 29 June 2026 15:39:10 GMT