Woman forced by armed men to have 20 starving and diseased dogs dumped in home

A woman who was coerced by armed men into allowing her small council house to be used as a dumping ground for sick and injured dogs has been spared jail.

Emma Marshall, 39, kept 20 dogs, including XL Bullys with cropped ears, Chow Chows, bulldogs, crossbreeds, and a dachshund at the tiny property in Blinkbonny Road, Falkirk.

Inspectors from the Scottish SPCA attended the house with social workers after receiving a call reporting concern for the dogs.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard they were greeted by a stench of ammonia and found dogs inside in “skeletal” condition with skin and ear diseases, coats ungroomed and matted with faeces and soaked in urine, pressure sores, broken bones, orthopaedic problems and eye injuries. One animal was so starved and ill that it was unable to stand.

Prosecutor Karen Chambers said officials described one female XL Bully as “looking like a bag of bones”.

Some of the emaciated dogs were found to be 40% below their proper body weight.

Eighteen dogs were taken into SSPCA care after the raid on May 14, 2023. One dog died in its cage within half an hour of admission to the charity’s care, and 11 had to be destroyed.

Four have since found new homes and three remain in the organisation’s care.

Marshall, a first-time offender, who is now living at a secret address because of fear of reprisals from the men who coerced her, pled guilty to 18 charges of causing unnecessary suffering to the animals, contrary to the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act.

Solicitor Gordon Addison, defending, said Marshall, the mother of a disabled child, was classed as a vulnerable person and had been targeted.

He said: “She doesn’t really have any friends, but a person who was ‘a friend of hers’, to use the phrase in its most general way, invited her to look after her new boyfriend’s dog while they were on holiday.

“This gentleman turned up at night after dark with two dogs. A fortnight later he came back, she thought to collect the dog, but with another two dogs and another man, and said, ‘Can you keep these as well?’ and that’s how it progressed.

“On one occasion, they were armed, so she was given no choice in the matter.

“She was the dumping ground for dogs that were unwell.

“To have that number of animals in such a small house must have been absolutely brutal.

“These gentlemen would turn up always after dark, and sometimes they would deliver some food, and when it ran out, it ran out.

“She was terrified. She’s had to move four times and has had the assistance of the police in those moves. She is afraid to name these people.

“She wasn’t able to take one or more of these dogs to the vet, because it would have opened a can of worms.

“Fear is the dominant theme in this whole case.”

Sheriff Neil Kinnear said he accepted that Marshall was coerced by others she was scared of.

He said the Crown narration had painted a “truly dreadful picture” of the situation in her house.

He said: “There were approximately 20 dogs, not just slightly unwell, but in advanced states of starvation and significant distress.

“This is the worst case of animal cruelty that I have come across.”

But he added: “It is very clear from the report and the circumstances that you were put upon by others who effectively used you as a dumping ground for dogs that were already in poor condition.

“You were effectively coerced with force into keeping them.

“There is information in the report that persuades me that is not simply something you’re making up, but that is indeed the case.”

He told Marshall he would refrain from jailing her, also, because it was “very clear” from a social background report that she was a vulnerable person, and the carer for a very disabled child.

He sentenced her to a six-month electronic tagging order, confining her to her home from 7pm to 7am each night. He also placed her on social work supervision for two years, and banned her from keeping dogs indefinitely.