Rescue centre owner jailed over dog deaths

Warning: This article contains distressing content

A man who ran an animal rescue centre where 41 dogs were found dead has been jailed for five years.

Essex Police found the dogs in squalid conditions at Save A Paw's premises in Crays Hill, near Basildon, in May 2025.

It prompted a UK-wide investigation into who owned the dogs, many of which have never been identified.

Oaveed Rahman, 26, was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court after previously admitting causing unnecessary suffering to animals, namely 21 dogs and a cat, and 11 offences of fraud by false representation.

Rahman, of Hope Road, Crays Hill, was wearing a beige shirt as he appeared by video link from HMP Chelmsford.

He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, with 38 months of that for animal cruelty.

That sentence will run consecutively to the fraud counts, for which he was sentenced to 22 months for each count, to all run concurrently.

He also admitted owning a banned XL bully dog, for which he was also sentenced to three months' imprisonment, to run concurrently, and was banned from owning dogs and cats for life.

Rahman can apply for the ban to be lifted after 15 years.

He has also been made subject to a deprivation order, which means that all the animals he was supposed to be looking after are no longer in his care.

Rahman took about £4,800 from his victims, telling them the money would be used to rehome the animals, the court heard.

But he actually left the pets to suffer and did not keep in touch with the families to update them on their progress, as he had promised.

Judge Richard Conley said: "[The] gravity of the offending is so great... I can barely conceive of a more serious offence of this type.

"No sentence that I can lawfully impose can adequately reflect the justifiable anger and disgust at what you have done."

Twenty-one live dogs and a cat were found in small and dirty spaces, living without water, food or decent living conditions.

Three of the dogs were so unwell they had to be put down, and one poodle later went blind, the court heard.

Police found 37 dead dogs when they first searched the rehoming centre, where dogs were left to roam among the carcasses.

Four more dead dogs were found when a shed was demolished during a later visit.

Amy Cooper, a vet called to the scene with police last May, said as soon as she left her vehicle she could smell rotting flesh, despite parking 40m (130ft) away from Rahman's property.

Cooper said she saw masses of bodies riddled with maggots, with rats running around outside.

She said the dogs kept in pens would have faced "mental turmoil" as there were open bags of food in the property which they could not access

Tom Godfrey, prosecuting, said the neglect had been going on for weeks and it was likely that the deceased dogs also suffered while living at the address.

Some of the dogs were found in bins, outbuildings and the garden.

Faeces were found inside the pens and cages, and many of the dogs were severely underweight.

Godfrey said: "Rahman made the decision to house these dogs in inhumane conditions... whether this was some satisfaction from the power that he was able to exert over these dogs is a matter for your honour, but it is difficult to see why else Rahman would house the live dogs with the deceased dogs."

Officers said they spoke to people in 20 counties in connection with Rahman's crimes, and people as far as Scotland used the rehoming services.

"We'll never truly know the extent of how far maybe offending or this behaviour has gone," said Supt Leigh Norris, of Essex Police.

When Molly Pinkus, mitigating, said Rahman had expressed remorse over his crimes, people in the public gallery sighed, tutted, shook their heads and even laughed.

The judge had to ask the court for quiet to allow Ms Pinkus to continue.

He asked her for "some understanding of motivation".

"It is so impossible to understand what can cause a person to do the things that he did," he said.

"I can't make sense of it, probation can't make sense of it, the psychiatrist can't make sense of it."

Pinkus said Rahman, who was privately educated, suffered with mental ill health, and began his enterprise with a genuine desire to look after dogs.

During the hearing, owners of the animals saw Rahman showing no emotion and staring straight ahead.

Later, after Rahman was sentenced, a victim in the court shouted and swore at him through the video link.

Statements from six dog owners who trusted Rahman with their pets were read out to the court room.

Michelle Halliday is one of the few owners who actually know their pet's fate.

"We have to live every day knowing we sent Sparko to his death. Sparko was not even a year old," she said.

"He had his whole life ahead of him. He should be here now… This will never leave us."

Tina Davis took her dog Chad, a pocket bully, to Save A Paw to be rehomed after he had a fight with her other dog.

In the statement read to the court, she said: "I was devastated at the prospect of giving up my dog but knew it was required for Chad to have the best possible life.

"I torture myself, wondering how much he suffered.

"He must've thought I didn't love him to leave him at that wretched place... I question if I will ever forgive myself."

Some of Rahman's victims contacted him via the Facebook page for Save A Paw, which had good reviews, the court heard.

Aidan McGurran, Labour cabinet member for environment and leisure at Basildon Council, said while nothing could undo the "appalling suffering" the animals endured, the sentence would ensure Rahman would never been in a position to harm again.

"This sentencing sends a clear message that such appalling mistreatment of animals will never be tolerated in our communities," he added.

The conviction followed an investigation led by police and supported by the council, and the RSPCA.