22 Sept 2025
RSPCA officers said “virtually all” of the animals had been left without veterinary care despite agencies’ attempts to offer advice dating back several years.
Vet Times
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Ponies were among the animals rescued from the farm. Image: RSPCA
A man has been jailed for 12 months and given a lifetime ownership ban after hundreds of animals had to be rescued from a Nottinghamshire farm.
Staff from eight welfare organisations took part in the two-day operation, which the RSPCA said had led to one of the largest prosecutions it has ever undertaken.
A court also heard vets describe “an extensive failure to provide basic preventive health care” at the premises.
Further legal proceedings are now set to follow after a costs application for more than £660,000 was granted against Lee Hayes at a hearing in Mansfield on Thursday, 18 September.
Hayes, 42, of Dawgates Lane, Skegby, near Sutton-in-Ashfield, was sentenced after pleading guilty to 15 charges of failing to take reasonable steps to meet animals’ needs plus 10 counts of causing unnecessary suffering.
His partner, Tammy Heath, 33, of Moorland Close, Skegby, was also sentenced to 13 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, for two offences of failing to take reasonable steps to meet welfare needs.
She was barred from keeping dogs for five years and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
A total of 455 animals, across 19 different species, were rescued from the farm during a two-day operation in November 2023.
They included more than 170 guinea pigs, more than 70 horses and donkeys, 50 dogs and puppies, plus cats, rabbits, ferrets, small rodents, birds, reptiles and even a llama.
The RSPCA, which attended the site alongside police, said several of the animals had to be euthanised and “virtually all” had not received veterinary care.
Inspector Laura Baker said: “The sheer volume of animals in dire circumstances was quite overwhelming.”
Agencies including the Donkey Sanctuary, Redwings, World Horse Welfare, Bransby Horses, British Horse Society, Dogs Trust and Beauties’ Legacy worked with the RSPCA during the rescue operation.
In mitigation, the court was told that Hayes had acquired the animals from people who knew he would take them on and should have sought help earlier.
Heath was also said to accept that the arrangements for keeping her dogs was “inappropriate”, though she maintained she couldn’t use her father’s home due to the presence of an “aggressive” dog.
But, passing sentence, district judge Grace Leong said there had been “no improvements” at the farm despite previous interventions from charities, including one dating back to 2016.
She told Hayes: “A lot of this could easily have been prevented, but you wantonly neglected hundreds of animals of a wide range of species.
“You lack insight in the care of animals and you present a high risk of offending again as far as the welfare of animals is concerned.”
A deprivation order covering the remaining animals on the farm, thought to be around 200, was also issued during the hearing.
The RSPCA said “a large number” of animals were signed over into its care at the time of the operation, though a separate order was needed in relation to the site’s equine and farm animals.
