Harrowing images show frozen remains of dogs found at Ayrshire Ark as animal death toll reaches 16
Horrified animal welfare workers made the shocking discovery during a raid on the rescue home in Patna
THESE harrowing images show the frozen remains of animals found dead at the Ayrshire Ark rescue centre as it is confirmed the death toll from the rehoming site had reached 16.
The pets’ lifeless bodies were pulled from a freezer packed with mutilated corpses.
Horrified animal welfare workers made the shocking discovery during a raid on the rescue home in Patna.
Last night shelter boss Zara Brown, 29, was starting a seven-month jail term for a campaign of animal cruelty — as the Scottish SPCA confirmed the death toll had reached 15 dogs and one cat.
The charity’s welfare inspector Leanne McPake said: “The conditions the dogs were forced to live in were woefully inadequate.”
The disturbing photos of the dogs’ frozen bodies were taken during the SSPCA’s swoop on the Ayrshire Ark.
The charity said the case — sparked by an expose in our sister paper The Scottish Sun on Sunday — was one of the most distressing they have ever had to deal with.
One heartbreaking pic shows a mastiff-type hound frozen rigid in a sitting position with a collar hanging loosely around its emaciated neck.
Another reveals a frost-covered animal with its abdomen ripped open while a third is barely recognisable after suffering what appears to have been a savage attack.
In one harrowing close-up, a dog can be seen with excrement in its mouth — sparking fears the starving pet had been so desperate for food it had eaten its own filth.
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Inspector McPake led the initial raid on the centre and described the moment officers uncovered the sickening scenes hidden inside.
She said: “There was an overpowering stench as all the floors were covered in dog faeces and urine.
“There was debris strewn in some of the rooms creating more hazardous and unacceptable conditions.
“As an inspector who deals with animal cruelty we expect to see horrible things, but this case was particularly harrowing and will stay with us for a long time.”
The SSPCA team, who were joined by cops, found malnourished dogs tied up or in cages with no food or water and one pet was found lying dead behind a door.
Nine animals were seized alive from the rescue centre during the swoop in December last year.
But eight of them didn’t survive and either died of ill health or had to be put to sleep.
The bodies of six more dogs and a cat were discovered in a freezer, taking the known death toll to 16.
The corpse of presa canario cross Ozzy — which authorities had spotted through a window on the night of the raid — had been smuggled away and hidden in the four hours Brown kept them waiting to get in the premises.
Five days after the initial swoop, welfare bosses inspected the Ark and the surrounding area under warrant, but the pet’s body was never found.
They also removed eight dogs from Brown’s home address.
Three belonging to her boyfriend Gary Rooney were later returned.
The remaining five survived Brown’s horrendous treatment and the SSPCA will now be looking to find them new homes.
We told how animal lovers who had trusted Brown to rehome their dogs were snubbed by the SSPCA after pleading for information about their former pets following the raid.
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But last night the charity’s deputy chief superintendent Tom Gatherer insisted they weren’t allowed to pass on details because legally the stricken dogs belonged to Brown.
At Ayr Sheriff Court yesterday, Brown was caged for seven months for horrific acts of cruelty and neglect towards the animals in her care.
She was also given a four month sentence — which will run at the same time — for keeping homeless dogs in squalor.
Brown is banned for life from owning or working with animals again.
A crowd of campaigners had packed into the public gallery to see the mum of four face justice.
Sentencing Brown, Sheriff Mhairi MacTaggart told her: “These offences are individually very serious.
"However the totality of them amounts to offending of the utmost gravity.”
Shamed Brown showed no emotion as she was handcuffed and led away from the dock to start her sentence.
Last night, as the SSPCA backed new laws to regulate animal sanctuaries — secured by The Scottish Sun on Sunday’s Sort Our Shelters campaign — Inspector McPake hailed Brown’s jail term.
She said: “We hope this sentence will act as a deterrent to others.”
Dee McIntosh, director of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home — which is championing a five-year maximum prison stretch for animal abusers — added: “No Scottish court has the power to give out anything more than 12 months, which is appalling.
“Had this woman been convicted of fly tipping, she could have been jailed for up to five years. Instead, she escaped with just a few months.”
The death toll horror
NINE other dogs died as well as the six found hidden in the Ayrshire Ark’s freezer.
They are Bruce, Clarkson, Ace, Pablo, Kilo, Luna, Primo, Missy and Roxy. A tenth, Chief, survived.
Dogs Reggie, Cara, Axel, Marley and Betty were seized from Zara Brown’s own house and also lived.
Pets who survived Zara's clutches
Chief
Reggie
Cara
Axel
Betty
Tragic hounds who never made it
Bruce
Clarkson
Luna
Primo
Ace
Kilo
Pablo
Roxy
Seven months in prison 'still not enough'
THE owner of a dog whose corpse vanished from the Ayrshire Ark told of her relief that Brown is finally behind bars, but claimed: “It’s nowhere near enough”.
Lisa Burgess, 29, believes the cruel shelter boss should have been given seven months for each of the animals she abused.
The mum of one had entrusted her pet Ozzy to the ark when her health meant he needed to be rehomed.
Lisa, of Wolverhampton, said: “Sentences in Scotland need to be higher and harsher.
“I don’t know what happened to Ozzy and I doubt I ever will.
“All I can do is imagine and think she did the worst to him.”
We told last week how dog lover Janice Grant, 44, had to be dragged from court after lunging at Brown when she heard details of her pet’s death.
Bull terrier Bruce was found lifeless by animal welfare workers who raided the centre.
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