THIS is the shocking moment two petsitters kick, punch and drag three dogs across a family’s home while they were away on holiday.
Paige Williams, 26, billed a family to take care of their three dogs, two cats and two birds of prey while they were away for four weeks in the summer of 2024.
Her partner Bradley Archer, 26, joined her at the family’s home in Solihull, West Midlands, to help take care of the animals.
But upon the family’s return, they looked back at footage captured on cameras in their kitchen and garden and were horrified at what they found.
They subsequently submitted a staggering 51 videos of evidence to the RSPCA who promptly launched an investigation.
The couple appeared at Coventry Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, April 8.
All of the incidents captured on the cameras involved two German Shorthaired Pointers – a 13-month-old called Ayrton and a three-year-old called Frieda.
In horror footage, both Williams and Archer were seen shouting and swearing at the dogs and roughly dragging Ayrton and Freida by their collars.
They’re also seen holding them off the ground, shoving them through doorways and pushing them down.
The RSPCA said Ayrton bore the brunt of the abuse as he was left crying in his crate and tethered to a tree with water just out of his reach.
A slip lead was used to “yank him around” and one clip shows him being whipped several times by a lead.
A vet who watched the footage said, in her witness statement to the court, that the Ayrton and Frieda showed signs of anxiety and stress.
She said: “Both dogs are handled in a way that would have negatively affected their mental welfare (due to crating, being shouted at, inconsistent training) and their physical welfare (dragging by the collar, yanking on slip leads and lifting the dog’s body weight from the ground by the neck).”
Commercial petsitter Williams – who operated under the name Fur & Filly PetCare Services – was charging £1,400 to look after the animals, though the family didn’t pay the invoice after uncovering the abuse.
RSPCA Inspector Ben Jones, who carried out the charity’s investigation, said: “It’s a big decision to leave your pets in the care of someone else and, in this case, the family were leaving their pets with someone they felt they could trust.
“Sadly, Williams and Archer betrayed their trust with care that fell below the standards the law requires, with Ayrton and Feida subject to four weeks of wanton intimidatory behaviour and abuse.
“What made this case even more shocking is that they were clearly aware of the presence of the cameras and even appeared to speak directly to the dogs’ owners through the cameras amid such inappropriate animal care.”
In one of the clips where Williams appears to address the owners directly, via the camera, she says: “I will never look after your dogs again, my animals have suffered this month. My animals. I’ve had enough.”
Inspector Jones added: “Poor Ayrton seemed to be at the sharp end of most of Ms Williams and Mr Archer’s anger; he was locked in a crate which left him crying and whining, he was tethered to a tree – with water left just out of his reach – and he was chased around the garden and threatened with a stick.
“He was handled very inappropriately, with a slip lead used to yank him around and even flip him up into the air. When he jumped up at Archer he was whipped at several times with the same lead.”
In mitigation, the court heard that Ayrton was a lively, young dog who could be challenging to deal with.
Magistrates were also told that Williams was in the early stages of pregnancy at the time and was struggling to cope with hormonal changes.
But the court heard that the family had been introduced to Ms Williams by a friend and had used her several times over the years, with no concerns, before asking her to have the animals for the four-week period in 2024.
Magistrates sentenced Williams to a 12-month community order with 140 hours of unpaid work and ordered her to pay £350 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
Archer stayed at the property for the four-week job and was also sentenced to a 12-month community order with 40 hours of unpaid work, and the court ordered him to pay £750 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
Both were disqualified from keeping all animals for seven years meaning Williams can no longer be responsible for the care of any animal, and therefore should not operate as a petsitter.
