Wagging fingers
Puppy farms, Issue 1632 THE taxman has issued a stern notice to tax-dodging animal breeders demanding they reveal undeclared income or face prosecution.

HM Revenue & Customs believes a large number of dog breeders failed to declare their riches as the high demand and inflated prices of the pandemic puppy boom saw coffers filling.

Default option
Raffles Cockapoos is one such company. Based in a country pad in rural Cheshire, it is run by Mark Wetton and in March made the list of deliberate tax defaulters, owing in excess of £1.8m in unpaid tax and penalties. The company is now in liquidation following a winding-up petition from HMRC. Wetton already has two bankruptcies under his belt, so Raffles makes a hat-trick.

The firm deployed slick marketing in its brochures and website, with photos of cuddly puppies, often posed on a striped sofa in what appeared to be the conservatory of Wetton's rural pile.

The marketing certainly worked: during the pandemic Raffles' profits went into overdrive. The price charged by Raffles for a cockapoo puppy rose from £950 pre-pandemic to £3,000. Potential puppy owners who had put down a deposit were contacted by the company to tell them prices had risen, offering money back if they were not prepared to pay.

Litter bug
Wetton had a council licence for 45 breeding bitches, while government regulations limit each bitch to one litter per year. Local animal lovers noticed Raffles was putting far more puppies up for sale than the 45 dogs could have produced. By reconstructing litter lists during the pandemic, they estimated Raffles sold more than 200 litters – around 800 puppies a year.

Campaigners asked how Raffles could be sticking to the rules on breeding numbers.

On social media posts Wetton stated that he also owned "dogs at other licence breeders". Cheshire East council, which licensed Wetton's operation, was apparently aware of this "arrangement", with a June 2020 inspection report noting that "bitches on breeding arrangements leave at 10 weeks".

Campaigners began collating details of litters produced along with dozens of reports from new owners with sick puppies. Raffles denied any animals were sick on leaving the firm's care.

Evidence included receipts and deposit confirmation documents, many of which were not in the name of Wetton or the company. None of the paperwork collected had a VAT or invoice number.

Stars struck
The information was passed to the council, which said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. The council did, however, temporarily suspend Raffles' licence and then downgrade it from four stars to one.

While Raffles has ceased trading, conveniently the council has already issued a new licence to... Wetton's son, James. His company, Humphries Poos, operates from the same Cheshire country pad and even poses adorable puppies on the same striped sofa.

Companies House shows there are other similarities to Raffles, such as a problem obeying accounting regulations. Humphries has twice faced compulsory strike-off and was finally dissolved earlier this year. Its website says it still has puppies for sale until January 2025.