Puppy hell lifesavers

Taylor preyed on women who bonded with suffering pooches Disease-ridden pets trembled in pain after being brought home

- BY MARK McGIVERN

VICTIMS of illegal puppy trader Julie Taylor have told how they battled to save the lives of their dogs.

The pet owners have spoken out after the SSPCA's Special Investigations Unit busted Taylor, who was running an unlicensed "puppy shop" from a filthy home in Ayrshire. The Daily Record told yesterday how Taylor was branded "cruel and abhorrent" and banned from keeping animals for 10 years.

We revealed one dog died, leading the new owner - an off duty police officer - to call in the animal charity's SIU to bring Taylor to justice.

Another dog lover who suffered a nightmare ordeal due to Taylor's actions was Gillian Linton, 35, from Clydebank.

The civil servant told how she instantly fell in love with a tiny spaniel she called Primrose.

She ended up paying more than £2000 in vet bills after forming a powerful bond with the tiny pup, which almost died but eventually pulled through.

Gillian, who bought Primrose at Taylor's home in Stewarton on Christmas Eve, 2023, said: "We were meant to be getting a Blenheim spaniel but the pup turned out to be a cavalier king Charles spaniel.

"When she was presented to us, she was stinking and her tummy was distended. She was in a bad way. Julie said she had just been fed but alarm bells were ringing loudly.