Man calls for pet sitter rules after dogs abused

8 hours ago

Aida FofanaWest Midlands

News image — Duncan Horlor's dogs were subjected to abuse by the pet sitter he hired to look after them

Handout Duncan Horlor sat on a brown straw bench with his partner and two brown dogs. Duncan is bald, wears glasses a blue jumper and blue jeans while his partners has a blonde bob and smiles with her arms around one of the brown dogs. She is wearing a pink floral dress and black tights. — Duncan Horlor's dogs were subjected to abuse by the pet sitter he hired to look after them

A dog owner whose pets were subject to "nasty and heartbreaking abuse" has called for regulations to be introduced on petsitters.

Duncan Horlor hired Paige Williams to care for his two dogs while he went on holiday to Thailand for a month, and upon returning he discovered footage of Williams and her partner Bradley Archer dragging, kicking and screaming at the animals.

Williams and Archer were banned from keeping animals for seven years as a result of their treatment of the dogs.

"When we got back I got a text from my neighbour saying they need to speak to me and I was expecting her to say the dogs had been barking but she said 'it wasn't the dogs, it was the people'," he said.

Horlor, from Balsall Common, near Solihull, went through his home security footage and found evidence of the abuse, which he said "was heartbreaking, because you just you blame yourself".

He added: "Pets are a massive part of our family, and we felt that we'd let them down by putting them in that position."

The abuse involved a 13-month-old dog called Ayrton and a three-year-old dog called Frieda - both German shorthaired pointers.

Horlor, who runs a firm in Coventry, added: "Even though Ayrton was suffering all this abuse, he was still wagging his tail every time they walked up to him, even after tying him to a tree."

Williams and Archer were caught on camera shouting and swearing at the dogs and roughly dragging Ayrton and Freida by their collars, holding them off the ground, pushing them through doorways and pushing them down.

He added that the dogs' mistreatment had led to further consequences.

"Frieda was so distressed that she broke the bars on the crate trying to get out, and it scarred her head and snout, all because they were locking them away for so many hours."

Horlor has since called for better oversight and qualifications for pet sitters.

"There's no required checks or regulation by law, even via a DBS check or insurance, there is nothing."

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