Couple jailed for keeping 50 animals in squalid conditions

A Milford Haven couple have been sentenced to prison after keeping nearly 50 animals in appalling conditions at their home on Coombs Road.

Lee Lock, 38, and Zoe Graham, 33, appeared at Swansea Crown Court where they admitted multiple animal welfare offences. RSPCA officers who visited the property on 29th December 2024 were met with the overwhelming stench of faeces and urine before even entering the house.

Inside, inspectors discovered 29 dogs and puppies – some just days old – alongside 17 snakes, a tortoise and a gecko. Every floor was covered in excrement and urine, with officers finding “no space large enough to step in” that wasn’t contaminated with animal waste.

Many of the animals were emaciated and sick, with several dying shortly after rescue or requiring euthanasia. Officers made two particularly disturbing discoveries: a dead French Bulldog in the freezer, heavily infected with parasites, and another French Bulldog’s body in a shed with a rectal tear caused by the insertion of a blunt object.

During his police interview, Lock remained silent but later became abusive towards officers, accusing them of raping his dog.

Lock faced additional charges for drug offences after police found 209 grams of psilocybin – worth up to £4,000 – along with mushroom growing equipment, 35 grams of cannabis and £883 in cash at the property and in his camper van in June 2024. He claimed his partner grew the mushrooms and that he was driving them to the police station when stopped.

The court heard Lock has 12 previous convictions for 19 offences, including coercive behaviour, dangerous driving and possession of a bladed article. He was jailed for 18 months last June after crashing head-on into a van.

Lock’s barrister Emily Bennett said her client had been struggling with mental health issues following family bereavements and had a long-standing cocaine addiction. She clarified Lock was being sentenced for failing to seek treatment for the injured dog, not for causing the injuries, noting the pre-sentence report “raises the issue of his sexual interests” though this wasn’t part of the prosecution’s case.

Graham’s barrister Jon Tarrant explained the couple had originally intended to provide homes for homeless animals, but the situation became “unmanageable” as numbers increased. He described Graham as “somewhat of a fragile individual” whose remorse was “palpable and genuine”.

Judge Huw Rees told the defendants they were responsible for “a litany of unconscionable cruelty to animals” and said it was to their shame they had kept animals in “filthy conditions”.

Lock received 27 months for the animal offences plus 18 months for drug offences, making a total of 45 months in prison. Graham was sentenced to 18 months. Both will serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence.

Lock has been banned from keeping animals for 25 years, whilst Graham received a 15-year disqualification.