FOR more than six years Crunchy’s Animal Rescue was run as a registered charity, until it was raided by the RSPCA.

The Russell family set up the Longworth centre in 2006 and ran it with income from fees, fundraising, donations and the sale of animals.

Believed by the RSPCA to have an income of around £10,000 a year, the charity had Angela Russell and her father Fred as trustees.

It claimed to offer services including rehoming animals, helping elderly or disabled people get treatment for their pets, and providing advice and help to owners.

Becoming aware of concerns about the site in 2008, the RSPCA inspected Crunchy’s once a year, offering advice and warnings to its owners.

But inspector Kirsty Withnall said she was “shocked” at the state the centre was in when she visited in January last year.

She said: “Conditions had deteriorated massively and we still don’t really know why.

“They made no comment in interviews and have never shown any remorse.

“We still don’t have any idea why this happened, they must have started out with good intentions.

“Why else would anyone open an animal rescue centre?”

On the Charity Commission’s website Crunchy’s lists its objectives as: “To promote humane behaviour towards animals by providing appropriate cover, protection, treatment and security.”

But when Nick White, field officer for World Horse Welfare, was called to the scene he said what he found was a centre “not fit for purpose”.

He said: “The conditions the animals were living in were dirty and dangerous. The horses were foraging amongst the filth and debris around the house and outbuildings looking for food amongst the many dangerous hazards.

“There were broken-down vehicles, trailers, cages an open greenhouse, glass, wire, metal and machinery.”

Crunchy’s was removed from the Charity Commission’s register in June this year after failing to file any accounts for more than two years.

The RSPCA has managed to rehome almost all the animals, either with World Horse Welfare, the Blue Cross or in private homes.

District Judge Tim Pattinson yesterday praised the RSPCA for their efforts during the investigation.

listen to ‘Oxford Mail talk about Nick White talks about Crunchy's’ on Audioboom

 

CASE STUDY ONE: CHARLOTTE HICKMAN

Charlotte Hickman never saw her dog again after it was taken to Crunchy’s for medical treatment.

The mum-of-three was told a specialist was travelling from the United States to help her dog called Jizz.

But three years later she still does not know whether he is alive.

The 28-year-old said: “One day there was no contact or nothing.

“It was devastating. My partner was heartbroken.

“Still to this day we don’t have any peace of mind. We would rather know if he was put to sleep or rehomed.”

Miss Hickman and her partner Luke McGowan got the Staffordshire Bull Terrier from the Longworth charity in 2009.

They were told the bald dog had fox mange and needed regular treatment.

But she suspects the “specialist” shampoo and pills Crunchy’s gave her were cheap shampoo and Paracetmol.

After six months Jizz was taken back to the sanctuary but despite regular phonecalls Crunchy’s told the family nothing.

Instead, they were given a temporary dog – a Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Kiki who they still have today.

The family was told the dog had been spade but 18 weeks later it gave birth to a litter of puppies.

Miss Hickman, of Colwell Drive, Abingdon, saw the conditions at Crunchy’s when she took part in a protest there in February 2012.

She said:“You wouldn’t dream of keeping a dog in conditions like that. It was just nasty.”

CASE STUDY TWO: SANDRA LUKER

A pet owner who left her animals with Crunchy’s has said she will “never get over” the loss of her beloved animals.

Didcot resident Sandra Luker trusted Angie Russell with the care of four golden retrievers, two cats and a rabbit in November 2011.

Following the raid on the Longworth animal rescue centre she has only been reunited with one of her dogs, Winston, and one cat called Neddy.

The 69-year-old said: “We don’t know where the rabbit went, or one of the cats or the three dogs.

“I will never get to the end of this until I find the others.

“I just cannot believe it. I will never get over it.”

Mrs Luker was unable to look after her pets after she and her husband James had to move out of their bungalow and they could only keep two dogs at their caravan site.

Originally the animals were kept at Honeybottom Kennels in Steventon but the price became too much.

The Lukers moved their pets to Crunchy’s after four weeks and that, Mrs Luker said, was the last she saw of her missing animals.

Mr Luker said: “Honeybottom told us about them.

“Angie Russell came over and picked them up and took them back to her place. We thought the place was a bit untidy but we were so grateful.”

The Lukers met Angie Russell in a Tesco car park in Didcot to pay £80 on a fortnightly basis.
On one occasion Russell turned up at the John Radcliffe Hospital when Mrs Luker was taken ill to ask for money for her dogs.

The couple paid the Russells on the same day as Crunchy’s was raided by the RSPCA and didn’t find out about it until they saw it on the news.

WHAT DISTRICT JUDGE TIM PATTINSON SAID...

“The conditions at Crunchy’s were absolutely appalling and the suffering of the animals seen and described was tangible.

“I propose saying nothing further about my findings on the prosecution evidence of suffering and environment, except to echo the words of Inspector Douglas Davidson that Crunchy’s was ‘an animal welfare disaster’, a sea of mud and faeces containing shocking and dangerous hazards, and in short, a rescue centre from which animals needed to be rescued.

“All of the evidence points to no other conclusion than that Angela Russell was quite plainly in charge of Crunchy’s and was the driving force behind it.

“I find her statement that various sick animals had just arrived at Crunchy’s to be a particularly malicious lie.

“I found Frederick’s evidence to be no more than lies and malicious allegations.

“I find him to be responsible for the operation of Crunchy’s and to have clear knowledge of the appalling suffering of all the animals and of the dreadful conditions in which they were being kept.

“I find that Robert took primary responsibility for trying to hide the corpse of the dead horse and for digging its grave.

“I find his assertion that he was preparing the ground for a new pen to be totally unconvincing. The only conclusion I can draw is that he was trying to hide evidence.

“I am left in no doubt that Kirsty did have responsibility for the animals, as demonstrated in her admissions to Inspector Withnall. Her aggressive demeanour indicated reluctance for the RSPCA to investigate the centre which, in turn, was probative of her knowledge of the suffering of the animals and defects in the animals environment.

“This is a case of prolonged neglect for which the starting point is a sentence of imprisonment.”

GET ONLINE

The judge’s comments in full, audio comments from Nick White, the field officer for World Horse Welfare who helped take the animals away from the site and a gallery of other pictures are available with this story at oxfordmail.co.uk