THREE dogs suffered needlessly after they were left to die in a six hour ordeal in a hot car, with another left perilously ill.

58-year-old dog breeder Andrew Claridge-Fleming admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the pets following an RSPCA investigation.

He was sentenced to 27 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 180 hours’ unpaid work at Bournemouth Crown Court on August 5.

Claridge-Fleming, of Lymington Road, was spared a ban on keeping animals after the court heard that since the offence he had worked with animals successfully, and had references for his trustworthiness around dogs.

Bournemouth Crown Court was told the dogs probably died of heat stroke and “suffered unnecessarily both physically and mentally” for “a minimum of 15 minutes but in reality likely much longer”.

The pets who succumbed to confinement during temperatures of up to 23° included a six-month-old Labrador, Milo, who had been left with the defendant for training.

But the other dogs were his own – a Cockapoo and Cocker Spaniel who died, plus a Cocker Spaniel, Rocky, who collapsed but pulled through following emergency veterinary treatment.

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The tragedy unfolded in August 2023 after Claridge-Fleming shut the dogs in his Landrover Discovery on land near his home at 10am and returned to collect them at 4pm.

He claimed in a conversation with a vet that he left the dogs with access to air and suggested that a member of the public must have closed off the supply while he was away.

RSPCA Inspector Patrick Bailey said in a statement that the charity was alerted one month after the incident, when he was called by an environmental health officer who had spoken to Milo’s owner.

Picture: RSPCA

He said the defendant – known in the area as a gundog trainer who bred and boarded dogs without being licensed – had taken Milo in for residential training while his owner was on holiday.

Inspector Bailey said when he interviewed the defendant in October, his solicitor read out a statement on his behalf. Claridge-Fleming claimed he had left the pets with both water and shade.

But he also gave “no comment” answers when asked how long he had left the dogs in the vehicle, whether there was air conditioning or whether he had taken “any precautions for leaving your dogs in the car”.

The vet who examined Rocky said in her statement that a “distressed” Claridge-Fleming telephoned her practice on 3 August, 2023 to ask if they could treat a dog who had overheated after being left in a “trailer”.

“He advised it was a trailer designed for transporting working dogs which, when the sides of the trailer were open, there was sufficient ventilation for the dogs,” her statement read.

“Mr Fleming was absolutely certain that he had left the sides of the trailer open to allow for ventilation to the dogs inside, but when he had returned to collect the dogs he found the trailer sides had been shut.

“He said on several occasions that he thought the sides must have been lowered by someone during the day. “

She added that 11-month-old Rocky was “collapsed and minimally responsive” and also dehydrated and hyperthermic – so was wrapped in blankets and put on a heat map to raise his temperature.

“Fortunately Rocky responded well to the treatment and after initial emergency management he became able to regulate his body temperature and made a gradual improvement in his strength and demeanour.”

A second vet’s report said all three dogs probably died as a result of heat stroke and would have “suffered unnecessarily both physically and mentally” for “a minimum of 15 minutes but in reality likely much longer”.

They would have “experienced this suffering as a difficulty to breath, panic, and pain from gastrointestinal discomfort and muscle cramping.”

Nicola Johnston, the New Forest District Council officer who alerted the RSPCA, said in her statement that Milo’s owner had paid £700 to book him in with Claridge-Fleming for residential training while they went away to Cornwall.

Ms Johnston later spoke to a pet crematorium who confirmed that the defendant had brought in the bodies of two dogs on August 4 and returned later that day with Milo’s corpse.

She had checked out weather records for the day of the incident and found they were forecast at up to 22-23°.

“It was reasonable to expect Mr Claridge Fleming, a professional dog trainer to have the knowledge that acting in this manner would or likely to have that effect of suffering,” she said.

“Given the hot weather conditions the dogs could have been left in a different environment and as a result being in a hot vehicle, unnecessarily suffered as they could not move away.”

In mitigation, Claridge-Fleming’s representatives said he had suffered mental health issues but was remorseful and received positive references since the case and was turning his life around.

After sentencing, Inspector Bailey said: “Many people think something like this will never happen to them so we hope this saddening case reminds people that the risk to the lives of animals is so high.

“We’d plead with people to never leave a dog in a vehicle even for a moment, especially during hot weather.”