A daughter and her father who made more than £34,000 by illegally selling puppies and kittens, have been sentenced for their crimes following an investigation by Dorset Council’s animal welfare team and Dorset Police.
Ebony Membury aged 25 and her father Michael Membury aged 58 of Dorchester in Dorset, were prosecuted for unlicensed breeding and advertising the selling of dogs, and also the sale of puppies and kittens as pets for profit.
Puppies found in the house were being sold for up to £2,000 each
Both pleaded guilty to offences
The pair were sentenced at Weymouth Magistrates Court on Thursday 5th December 2024 after both pleaded guilty to offences under section 13 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
The unlicensed activities started in 2019, with puppies purchased from breeders in different parts of the UK and selling them on for a profit.
It’s not known exactly who all the customers were but one of the investigating team said it was reasonable to assume that some people in Purbeck were affected by this crime, as it was likely most of the customers came from within a relatively short distance of Dorchester.
In July 2020, Ebony Membury contacted Dorset Council to obtain a licence but failed to provide the correct paperwork or pay the necessary fee.
Officers advised of the risk of prosecution should she continue her activities without a licence, but she assured officers that no further licensable activities would take place until the necessary licensing was in place.
Dogs were shut in a cupboard under the stairs
Howling and barking dogs
Dorset Council says that promise was not kept as the breeding, advertising, and selling of pets continued.
From 2021, the pair bred dogs at the family home, as well as sourced kittens from a relative’s farm, which were then advertised for sale online.
In July 2023, a couple who had seen adverts for a puppy online visited the premises. They saw puppies in very cramped conditions, with howling and barking dogs in a cupboard under the stairs, seemingly in distress. Three cats were also there, with two in a cage.
The upset couple left without buying and contacted Dorset Council to report what they had seen.
Kittens in a cage at the Membury family home
Search warrant
In August 2023, officers from Dorset Council and Dorset Police searched the home of the Membury family, along with a vet and an RSPCA inspector.
Officers discovered:
- Two puppy litters of cockapoos and dachshunds
- Ten other dogs of a variety of breeds, housed in a very small, confined space in a cupboard under the stairs
- A dog wearing an anti-bark vibrating collar which had caused injury to its neck
- The garden littered with dog excrement, and a rabbit hutch in extremely poor condition, housing animals
- Documents associated with pet sales, referring to dogs’ names, breeding notes, customer details and deposits paid, pedigree information and vaccination records
- Large quantities of cash, suspected to be profit from the illegal activity.
- An Improvement Notice was served immediately, requiring steps to be taken to ensure the animals’ welfare needs would be met
The pair avoided charges being brought to court in relation to welfare offences, as all the steps in the Improvement Notice were implemented.
Substantial amount of money
Dorset Council said that it appeared the puppies were being sold for up to £2,000 each. An analysis of each of the defendant’s bank accounts showed that a substantial amount of money was generated by the unlawful business.
Bank account entries showed that Ebony Membury received payments of £68,333 and her father received £45,575 relating to the selling of pets.
During an interview as part of the investigation, Michael Membury denied having anything to do with the breeding or selling of puppies and kittens, or was involved with his daughter in an unlicensed business despite the amount of money that had gone into his bank account.
In a separate interview, Ebony Membury admitted to sourcing puppies from breeders and selling them for a profit, and then breeding and selling puppies and kittens herself.
She denied her father was involved, despite failing to give any satisfactory explanation for the volume of money transferred between the pair.
A mum was discovered with her puppies in a cage
Community orders
At the sentencing, the court disqualified them from dealing in cats and dogs for five years, ordered them to pay the combined court costs of £8,898, and a victim surcharge of £114 each.
Michael Membury was also given a community order with electronic monitoring for four months, with a curfew requiring him to be at home between 8 pm and 8 am, seven days a week. He was also charged £120 for money laundering offences, with a forfeiture of £2,330 plus interest.
Ebony Membury was given a 21 month community order with 150 hours community service.
“Motivated by financial gain”
Dorset Council cabinet member for health and housing, councillor Gill Taylor said:
“This activity started and continued over a lengthy period, despite the warnings of our officers. The scale and organisation of the business demonstrated it was deliberate, pre-planned, and motivated by financial gain.
“Most concerningly, the activities carried on without sufficient consideration of the animals’ welfare regarding the poor conditions they were kept in.
“Breeding and selling of animals are licensable activities for good reason, mainly to ensure that animals are properly cared for and not put through unnecessary suffering.
“I want to congratulate our animal welfare, trading standards, and legal teams for this successful prosecution, and thank our colleagues at Dorset Police and the RSPCA for their assistance.”
Further information
- How to report a concern about dog breeders and more about animal licences
