Dog breeder's ban cut

Phyllis Colgan can now start breeding dogs again

A champion dog breeder banned for five years from the Kennel Club after 10 of her animals died from heat exhaustion has had the ban reduced.

Phyllis Colgan, a Crufts judge, was banned after the giant Newfoundlands died in May 1998.

The dog were killed when temperatures in the back of the van they were travelling in reached 100 degrees F.

Colgan was transporting the dogs, worth a total of £100,000, to her new home near Matlock in Derbyshire when the tragedy was discovered at Leicester Forest East Services on the M1.

Ten Newfoundland dogs died from heat exhaustion

Colgan and her son-in-law spent about an hour pouring water and ice over the dogs before the RSPCA, a vet and the fire brigade arrived.

Seven dogs died at the scene and three more were taken to a veterinary surgery where one died and two were put down.

The High Court in London ruled the ban should be cut to three years.

Ms Colgan had asked for a declaration that the ban was unlawful and a court order compelling the Kennel Club to remove it.

Ms Colgan, orginally of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, was convicted at Leicester Magistrates court in January 1999 of permitting unnecessary suffering to the dogs, but was given an absolute discharge.

Back to business

She was later banned by the Kennel Club for five years from showing dogs.

The registration of her remaining dogs was taken away, effectively preventing her from breeding.

The judge ruled that the penalites were disproportionate and reduced the five-year ban to a three-year one.

The suspension on Colgan showing and breeding dogs was also reduced to two years, entitling her to get back to business immediately.

In a statement the Kennel Club said it is considering whether to take any further action.