Home / Crime and Justice / Crufts Trainer Spared Jail After Dogs Bake to Death in Hot Car
Crufts Trainer Spared Jail After Dogs Bake to Death in Hot Car
6 Aug
Summary
- Crufts dog trainer left 3 pets to die in hot car for 6 hours
- 2 client dogs and 1 personal dog perished from heatstroke
- Trainer claimed he was called away unexpectedly, but lied about duration
On August 3, 2023, a Crufts dog trainer named Andrew Claridge-Fleming faced legal consequences after three of his dogs died from being left in a hot car. Claridge-Fleming, who runs a training school called Gordleton Gundogs, had taken four dogs out for training that morning and returned home around 9 AM. He then left the dogs, which included two client dogs and one of his own, in crates in the back of his Land Rover Discovery.
Claridge-Fleming claimed he was unexpectedly called to drive his wife to a relative's house, and when he returned around 4 PM, he found that three of the four dogs had perished from heatstroke and hypothermia. The victims included a six-month-old Labrador named Milo and a cocker spaniel called Bodger, both of which belonged to clients. Claridge-Fleming's own cocker spaniel, Rocky, was rushed to the vet but survived.
Despite the tragic incident, Claridge-Fleming was spared a jail sentence. He pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to animals, though he denied being directly responsible for the deaths. The court heard that Claridge-Fleming had initially lied about the duration, claiming the dogs were only left unattended for an hour before admitting it was actually six hours. The judge suspended his 27-month prison sentence, ordering him to complete 180 hours of unpaid work instead.
