A CARLISLE woman who ran an unlicensed puppy trading business received so much online abuse when it became public she closed her social media accounts.

The impact of the offending admitted by 28-year-old Tonicha Grady was outlined by her defence lawyer as she was sentenced at the city’s Rickergate court. She had earlier admitted running the business without the required licence.

Prosecuting on behalf of Cumberland Council, lawyer Jonathan Farnworth outlined the facts.

He said the defendant had previously run her business legitimately, having paid for the local authority licence that allowed her to trade. This costs £430 and involved having the dogs and their accommodation checked by a vet.

This was to ensure there were no health or welfare issues.

But Grady, who lives in the Morton area of Carlisle, had allowed her licence to expire without renewing it, and yet continued to sell Staffordshire bull terrier puppies illegally between February 1 of 2022 and January 8 of this year.

“In that timeframe, she advertised four sets of puppies on the Pets4Homes website and on her Instagram business account,” said Mr Farnworth. “Basically, she made out that she was a licensed breeder, which the crown says was dishonest.”

The lawyer accepted that the offence had involved “no welfare issues.” Mr Farnworth described the business as “lucrative,” referring to a turnover during the period involved of between £33,000 and £38,000.

In June of 2022, she advertised five female pups at a price of £2,000 each. Similar adverts appeared at later dates.

Since the court case was published Grady had received online abuse,  said Tariq Khawam, defending. “It’s easy to say that she brought it on herself but it caused her to close down her social media accounts."

The lawyer also spoke of Grady having to leave her address on two occasions because of abuse. There were never any complaints about the puppies she supplied and she gave the dogs everything they needed.

“She never directly went out to deceive,” continued Mr Khawam. He explained that the defendant, following a relationship breakdown, had £15,000 of debt.

District Judge John Temperley accepted that there was no evidence of harm to the puppies and one reference referred to the “care and love” she had lavished on the puppy supplied to one of her customers.

But the offence went on for almost two years.

The District Judge fined Grady £300, with a £34 surcharge, and costs of £300 – a little under a quarter of the total £1,299 costs of bringing the case to court.

Grady will settle the debt at a rate of £50 per month.