Several dogs belonging to Jamie-Lee Harper, 36, were matted and dirty and left to sleep on concrete floors in damp bedding surrounded by faeces.

Others showed evidence of parasitic infection, general ill-health and dental decay. Inspectors from the Scottish SPCA made the discovery when they inspected Acre Farm in Glenboig, Lanarkshire, in November 2022. 

They found a total of 22 dogs roaming free on the site. The youngest puppies were only four or five weeks old.

Harper, of Clydebank, was sentenced at Airdrie Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to charges of causing unnecessary neglect and suffering to animals.

The dogs were discovered in stables and sheds as well as an open kennel area. In one shed, which housed three dogs, the bedding was insufficient, with three blankets that were damp and soaked with urine.

A litter of six cocker spaniel puppies around 10 weeks old were also found alongside two water bowls which were contaminated with faeces and wood shavings. They later tested positive for Giardia, a parasitic disease associated with chronic and acute diarrhoea in dogs. 

Andrew Laing, procurator fiscal for South Strathclyde, said: “Jamie-Lee Harper demonstrated an appalling disregard for the well-being of animals in her care. The conditions that many of the dogs were being kept in were shocking. This was a case of indiscriminate neglect where animals were subjected to unnecessary suffering.”