This is the shocking moment a pair of cruel pet sitters were caught on camera dragging, kicking and punching a West Midlands family’s three dogs while they were away on a holiday, News.Az reports, citing Express and Star.
Paige Williams and her partner Bradley Archer were paid £1,400 to take care of three dogs, two cats and two birds of prey at a property in Solihull, West Midlands, for four weeks in July and August 2024. The animals owners had forked out for Williams’ company Fur & Filly PetCare Services at their home in Balsall Common while they were away on holiday.
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But when they returned they discovered the distressing scenes captured on security cameras nestled in the kitchen and the garden. The shocking footage shows the evil couple roughly dragging two dogs by their collars and lifting them off the ground. Another heartbreaking clip shows Williams aggressively slamming one of the animals into the patio slabs as she struggled to get it inside. The couple can also be seen screaming at the two dogs on several occasions and striking them. Brazen Williams even appears to address the owners directly in one piece of footage, telling the camera: “I will never look after your dogs again, my animals have suffered this month. My animals. I’ve had enough.”
The family submitted 51 videos of evidence to the RSPCA who launched an investigation. The incidents captured on the cameras involved pets 13-month-old Ayrton and three-year-old dog called Frieda – both German Shorthaired Pointers.The couple appeared for sentencing at Coventry Magistrates’ Court on 8 April after both pleading guilty to one offence of failing to meet the needs of two dogs under section nine of the Animal Welfare Act. Magistrates handed Williams a 12-month community order with 140 hours of unpaid work and ordered her to pay £350 costs and a £114 victim surcharge. Archer was also sentenced to a 12-month community order with 40 hours of unpaid work, and the court ordered him to pay £750 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
RSPCA Inspector Ben Jones, who carried out the investigation on behalf of the animal welfare charity, said: “It’s a big decision to leave your pets in the care of someone else and, in this case, the family were leaving their pets with someone they felt they could trust.
“Sadly, Williams and Archer betrayed their trust with care that fell below the standards the law requires, with Ayrton and Feida subject to four weeks of wanton intimidatory behaviour and abuse.“What made this case even more shocking is that they were clearly aware of the presence of the cameras and even appeared to speak directly to the dogs’ owners through the cameras amid such inappropriate animal care.”
Inspector Jones continued: “Poor Ayrton seemed to be at the sharp end of most of Ms Williams and Mr Archer’s anger; he was locked in a crate which left him crying and whining, he was tethered to a tree – with water left just out of his reach – and he was chased around the garden and threatened with a stick.
“He was handled very inappropriately, with a slip lead used to yank him around and even flip him up into the air. When he jumped up at Archer he was whipped at several times with the same lead.
“They had no concerns about their pets until they returned home and found them to be quieter than normal, cowering if their son was too loud when playing. When they checked the cameras they were shocked by what they found.”
Both were disqualified from keeping all animals for seven years.
