A pet funeral association has slammed the sentence given to the owner of pet crematorium who gave bereaved owners ashes from the wrong animals.

Allan McMasters appeared at Cannock Magistrates Court last month (19 November) and was handed a 12-month community order including 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay more than £6,400 in costs, £2,000 of which will go to victims.

Stephen Mayles, vice chairman of the Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria, described the sentence given to McMasters as “ridiculously lenient”.

After a tip-off that animals were not being cremated, trading standards officers visited Swanpit Pet Crematorium in Gnosall, Staffordshire, in November 2015.

What they found, in the words of district judge Jack McGarva, was “something out of a horror movie”.

The officers found chest freezers filled with dead animals, plastic bin liners full of ashes and horse carcasses at the yard.

McMasters pleaded guilty to fraud and animal by-product offences.

His defence said he had not set out to deceive people.

“For the life of me, I can’t understand why Mr McMasters has also been allowed to carry on his business,” said Mr Mayles.

Mr Mayles urged the public and vets to do their homework thoroughly on pet crematoria in the wake of the scandal.

“The sad truth is that so many similarly disturbing cases have been brought to our attention over the past few years,” he said.

“This particular operator was not registered with the APPCC [Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria]. Our members must operate with complete transparency and adhere to a strict code of practice.”

The APPCC points out that the pet cremation industry is unregulated, apart from an obligation to comply with waste (animal by-product) disposal and The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.

“Swanpit is an extreme case, but we believe the mis-selling of services is rife in our sector, especially in relation to how pets are handled and transported,” added Mr Mayles.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure the high standards the public would rightly expect.

“Sadly, many pet owners never get told their pet’s ashes were destined for a council tip, or that their bodies have been collected with waste and their bodies heaped in the back of a van.

“To many people pets are family too, and if their owners want to guarantee a send-off which reflects that, they need to ask a lot of questions.”

Ref: H&H 24 December, 2015

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Fears that more horse owners have been duped by fake cremation services are surfacing.

Three more people have come forward following H&H’s story about fraudulent knackerman Phillip John Cooper last month, concerned that they too have been conned.

One case is connected to Cooper, the other two relate to other cremation services.

Cooper, 69, of Somerton, Somerset, was fined more than £53,000 for charging owners for cremations that never took place.

Jenny Morgan, who used a different service, contacted H&H worried that she had been returned too few ashes for them to be her Welsh section C pony, Aston True Welshman.

Ms Morgan has reported her concerns to Northampton Trading Standards and the Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria (APPCC).

The pony was a former Picton supreme novice champion and featured on the cover of Jenny’s book Showing Native Ponies.

“This could be only the tip of the iceberg,” said Ms Morgan. “Who knows how many other victims are out there? “I still have no idea what happened to my beloved pony.”

Ms Morgan paid £1,000 for her pony to be individually cremated and said it was “very difficult” to get his ashes back.

“Weeks passed and eventually we got a shoebox-sized casket — he was 13.2hh.

“I’m angry and upset. This is not the dignified and respectful end that I wanted for him.”

Kevin Spurgeon of the APPCC told H&H he was dealing with two new cases — though, due to ongoing discussions with Trading Standards, he could not comment further.

One is in Wiltshire and the other relates to Phillip John Cooper.

“It [the Cooper case] has led people to look into what ashes they had back and whether it’s what they were expecting,” said Mr Spurgeon.

He reiterated his warning to owners and vets, as the equine cremation industry is completely unregulated.

“Vets should ensure they have full written working practices and carry out regular site inspections.

“And owners need to get specific details of exactly what will happen and when, from start to finish.”

To contact the APPCC, tel: 01252 844478

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (13 December 2012)

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Horse owners are urged to take care if deciding to cremate their horse, after a knackerman was fined more than £53,000 for charging owners for cremations that never took place.

Phillip John Cooper, 69, was sentenced on 9 November at Gloucester Crown Court.

He was also handed an eight-month suspended sentence for duping 26 owners into paying for individual cremations — then disposing of their horses in other ways.

Last year Mr Cooper, of Somerton, Somerset, formerly of John Cooper Livestock Services, was fined £29,000 at Gloucester Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to five counts of fraud.

Gloucestershire’s trading standards department was first alerted when Sharon Widdows paid £920 to have her 16.3hh thoroughbred Otto individually cremated after he was put down by Bushy Equine Clinic in Breadstone in January 2009.

But Ms Widdows, who had worked in a vet clinic herself for 12 years, was suspicious when the casket returned was smaller than expected.

Investigators found that Mr Cooper took money from Ms Widdows, but actually delivered the remains to a rendering plant in Exeter.

And following publicity in H&H at the time, three other owners came forward, prompting further investigation. These were for individual cremations undertaken prior to 2008 at a cost of £552.25 each.

“Mr Cooper’s practices took advantage of vulnerable people at a time of loss for pure financial gain,” said Eddie Coventry, head of trading standards.

“Mr Cooper had an opportunity to set the record straight but chose not to. We felt this was a nasty fraud which was appropriate for us to revisit.”

“It was extremely upsetting at the time,” Ms Widdows told H&H. “But I’m pleased it has come to light. In hindsight I’d have organised the cremation myself. I feel let down by my vets.”

Kevin Spurgeon of the Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria has put out a warning to owners and vets, as equine cremation is currently completely unregulated.

“Vets should ensure they have full written working practices and carry out regular site inspections,” said Mr Spurgeon.

“Licensing only applies to animal disposal, which leaves the handling of the horse, the way the cremation is carried out and the ashes are collected down to the individual crematorium.”

Ms Widdows’ vet, Ian Camm from Bushy Equine Clinic, told H&H he was “devastated” by what happened and the group now has a different approach.

“We now ensure the client deals with the crematorium directly,” he said.

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (22 November 2012)

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A knackerman who fraudulently charged owners for horse cremations that never took place has been fined almost £29,000 at Gloucester Magistrates Court.

Phillip Cooper, 67, of John Cooper Livestock Services of Broadway, Glos, was fined on 8 February after pleading guilty to five counts of fraud.

Trading Standards were first alerted when Sharon Widdows, of Eastington, paid £920 to have her 16.3hh thoroughbred Otto individually cremated after he was put down by Bushy Equine Clinic in Breadstone in January 2009.

But after working in a vet clinic herself for 12 years, Ms Widdows was suspicious when the casket returned was smaller than expected.

Investigators found that Mr Cooper took money from Ms Widdows and four other owners for the individual cremations of horses, but actually delivered the remains to a rendering plant in Exeter.

“It is incredibly upsetting,” said Ms Widdows. “I feel immensely let down. At £920 you hope your horse is going to a legitimate crematorium.”

Mr Cooper also pleaded guilty to four charges of failing to keep appropriate records.

Trading Standards’ Eddie Coventry said: “This was a particularly nasty fraud, one targeted at individuals during a distressing and vulnerable time.”

Ms Widdows added: “Other readers should make their own enquiries. It must be happening up and down the country.”

The Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria’s (APPCC) Kevin Spurgeon also urges owners to to take care.

“Equine cremation is open to fraud. Vets should ensure they have full written working practices and carry out regular site inspections,” he said.

A spokesman for Bushy Equine told H&H he was “devastated”.

“We’re very disappointed,” he said. He added the clinic “never questioned” Mr Cooper’s legitimacy.

“He was licensed so I assumed that was enough.”

This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (17 February, 2011)

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Dutch owners can now treat their beloved horses to a very special goodbye — at a new equine-only crematorium.

Paardencrematorium Westerhout in Beverwijk, 25km from Amsterdam has a “bringing to sleep” room, a mourning room, two stables and a “coffee and talks” room.

Dutch law was relaxed in 2001, allowing horse crematoria to open up across the country — but none are as well equipped for the final journey as this one.

“We are the biggest in Europe, and the only crematorium in Holland just for horses,” said Manon Niesten from the family business.

Owners bring their horses to the facility, where they are put down, cremated and then returned to them in an urn.

The cost is between €1,400-€1,800 (about £1,100-£1,450).

British sand sculptor Andrew Baynes built life-size horse statues for the opening.

“One woman saw me working and promptly burst into tears,” he told H&H.

“She had only just lost her horse — I suppose it was flattering because my sculpture was so lifelike.”

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (30 October, ’08)

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A fallen stock collector and knackerman has been found guilty of misleading a customer whose horse he had been asked to cremate.

Farmer David Nutt, from Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire, was found guilty at Amersham Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 15 August, in a case brought by Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Trading Standards Services.

Angie Murphy, of Henley-on-Thames, agreed to pay Nutt £650 to have her 28-year-old mare Puzzle cremated and the ashes returned. But Angie’s suspicions were aroused when the casket returned was far smaller than expected. Tests revealed that the remains presented to Angie contained dog, horse and bovine remains and were not of sufficient volume to be a horse.

“It was a tiny little casket that would not hold a Yorkshire terrier,” she said. “I had Puzzle for 21 years and she was very special, so it’s sad I don’t know what happened to her.”

Nutt was found guilty under the Trades Descriptions Act 1968 of misleading Angie about the service he offered and also of moving a horse carcass without completing a commercial document for the transport of animal by-products.

The court fined Nutt £3,250 for seven offences — three for this case and four involving the submission of two cows for slaughter that were not the animals described on the cattle passport document.

Gina Green of Buckinghamshire Trading Standards said: “We are pleased that the court recognised that Mr Nutt showed scant regard for the feelings of the horse owner as well as his obligations as a trader.”

A trading standards spokeswoman said that although Nutt was not a member of the national fallen stock company register, he could legally collect animals under rules allowing farmers to take stock to hunt kennels.

Lee Hackett of the British Horse Society welfare department said cases like this are unusual, but the society does advise owners to prepare themselves for the inevitable.

“Even if your horse is young and well, accidents happen, so we suggest you prepare in advance for when the time comes,” he said. “Talk to your vet or go and look at premises, don’t leave it until you are faced with making a rush decision.”

More information about equine cremations

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (6 September, ’07)

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