Dr Dan Jacklin prosecutes illegal dog breeding case resulting in £55k fine

Dr Dan Jacklin, prosecuted for North Northamptonshire Council, resulting in a £53,000 fine, a five-year disqualification from dealing with dogs, and full recovery of Prosecution costs in an illegal dog breeding case under section 13(1) and (6) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (‘2006 Act’).  

Following a two-day trial in late-2025, Mr Edward Howard was convicted of having advertised and sold 63 Doberman and Whippet puppies between December 2018 and March 2024 without the appropriate licence. His activity generated a substantial revenue which the court valued at £42,600.

Mr Howard used multiple aliases to disguise his breeding activities, bought microchips in bulk and conducted viewings at his home despite maintaining that he was doing so benevolent for the benefit of friends and relatives; an averment which the court flatly rejected.  

North Northamptonshire Council was also successful in securing a five-year disqualification order under section 34(3) of the 2006 Act to prevent Mr Howard further dealing with dogs, including the buying, selling or breeding of dogs. 

The court adopted as its starting point the financial benefit obtained by the illegal breeding activity before uplifting it by the cost of a breeding licence and by a punitive element in the sum of £10,000 to reach the fine sum of £53k. 

The case serves as a warning to those who seek to exploit animals for commercial gain and is one of several such prosecutions currently being brought by North Northamptonshire Council. Following particularly the COVID-19 crisis there was a boom in illegal dog breeding activity in the UK as prices for household pets soared.