A puppy farmer has pled guilty to human trafficking offences at his former Perthshire kennels.
Daanyaal Chowdhury recruited his victims with a view to exploiting them at South Cairnies Farm Cottage, Glenalmond, over a period spanning September 20 to November 15 2020.
He advertised jobs on Gumtree for work with dogs or cats, typically offering £1,000 a month with food and accommodation.
However, his victims were never given employment contracts and were overworked, underpaid and forced to eat the same food the dogs did.
Chowdhury was handed a five-year ban from keeping animals and 90 hours of unpaid work at Perth Sheriff Court in May last year after admitting three counts of animal neglect at the same farmhouse between April and October 2020.
Around 60 cats and dogs – kept in appalling, squalid and dangerous conditions – were rescued from the site.
At the time, Chowdhury blamed his staff for the condition of the rural site and its animal inhabitants.
At Dunfermline Sheriff Court this week Chowdhury, 31, from Oldham, pled guilty to three charges under section 1 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015.
Told to work while sick
Prosecutor Douglas Thomson told the court one of Chowdhury’s victims, a Greek national then living in the UK, saw a job advert on Gumtree to look after puppies.
It offered free accommodation, food and a monthly salary of £1,000, working 30 hours per week.
After the woman contacted Chowdhury by phone, he asked her to start work immediately.
She advised she and her partner would work there on the agreed terms but no employment contract was ever produced.
On arrival the next day she noticed a bad smell and “flies everywhere” when entering the kitchen, the fiscal said.
“Contrary to the advertised terms, (the woman) was required to work around 12 to 13 hours per day, due to the level of care required by the puppies and the cleaning work involved.
“She was not required to live on site.
“If she was unwell the accused would still telephone and ask her to work, stating that the dogs still required care.
“During the course of the employment, she was provided with food but observed it was all out of date.
“The accused would cook frozen chicken for everyone, being the same chicken that was also fed to the dogs.”
After about four weeks of working there and a number of complaints not being resolved, she and her partner left.
The fiscal said: “Over the period, she estimates that she worked over 200 hours.
“On the same (leaving) date, the accused paid £1,000 into her bank account, equating by her estimate to an hourly rate of £5, significantly below the national minimum wage”.
Offered half wages
The court heard about a second victim who started work at the farmhouse in early November 2020 after seeing a job advert on Gumtree seeking an “in-house dog and cat carer and cleaner”.
The advert stated it was a full-time position with a £1,000 per month salary and food and accommodation provided.
When shown to his bedroom the man observed it to be “messy and dirty,” the fiscal said.
The court heard the man worked there for two weeks, during which there were no dogs there and he was tasked with building and fixing kennels and cleaning.
During the second week they had a discussion about wages and Chowdhury told the man he would pay him £500 per month for 100 hours of work, which the man told him was unacceptable.
While negotiating, Chowdhury made a final offer of £9 per hour for 100 hours per month but required him to pay £5,000 over the next 12 months to cover his use of a motorbike Chowdhury had purchased for use at the site.
The man was unhappy about the terms and decided to leave the job.
Scottish SPCA informed
A third victim worked at the site for one and a half days in mid-November after responding to a job advert on Gumtree for a “live-in dog and cat carer”.
Chowdhury told the woman she would start working right away when she arrived and she would be living at the farm too.
There was no bed in her room and it was dirty and smelly so she decided against living there.
The court heard Chowdhury instructed her to start cleaning the yard alongside other staff, which she did.
The fiscal said: “She noted the yard was in a very poor state, with bones and broken glass strewn everywhere.”
No animals were there at the time.
Out of concern about the poor conditions, the woman spoke to a friend who visited there the next day and obtained photographs to provide to the Scottish SPCA.
The woman then left without further contact with Chowdhury and did not receive any payment for the day worked.
‘Appalling’ offences
Mr Thomson said police carried out a welfare check on November 17 after concerns were raised by third parties in relation to people within the premises.
Sheriff Krista Johnston described Chowdhury’s actions as “appalling”.
Defence lawyer Douglas McConnell pointed out his client’s offending is from “some time ago” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said Chowdhury has completed the unpaid work in relation to the puppy farming case.
The sheriff adjourned sentencing until October 11 to obtain background reports and Chowdhury’s bail was continued.
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