A dog trainer allowed three pets to die in a baking hot car, a court heard.
Andrew Claridge-Fleming (57) left four dogs in the back of his Land Rover Discovery for seven hours on a hot day last August, writes Corey Ross.
He claimed he had left a door and the boot open for the dogs, which were in crates.
He was then unexpectedly called away from his farm but when he returned hours later he was “shocked” to find the boot closed.
He found Milo, a six-month-old fox-red Labrador, cocker spaniel Bodger and a cockapoo named Rocky, had died of heat exhaustion.
A fourth dog, Claridge-Fleming’s own cocker spaniel also called Rocky, was alive but had to be rushed to the vet.
The car had been parked at his home at Ashley Manor Farm in New Milton on 3rd August 2023.
Claridge-Fleming runs Gordleton Gundogs, a training school he set up in 2022, and his wife Nicola breeds working cocker spaniels under the same name.
Claridge-Fleming is a field test secretary for the Hampshire Gundog Society and Kent, Surrey and Sussex Labrador Retriever Club.
He has represented England at the international game fair working test and made his debut at Crufts last year with a dog called Ato.
A year before the incident he was featured in an issue of Gundog Journal talking about Rocky as his “dog of a lifetime”.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard Claridge-Fleming had taken the dogs out for training in the morning and returned home at about 9am.
Two of them were his own dogs while the other two belonged to clients.
The four dogs were in crates in the boot of his car, two in each compartment, and had water and fresh air from the open doors.
At about 10am he was unexpectedly called away to drive his wife and four children to a relative’s house and was gone until 4pm.
When he returned, the car door and boot was shut and three of the dogs had “perished”. He tried to cool down the fourth, Rocky, before rushing him to the vet.
He pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to animals on the basis he was directly responsible for their deaths.
Holly Fagan, defending, read out his statement: “I had taken the dogs out for training that morning and returned at approximately 9am.
“They were left in a crate in the back of the car with capacity for four dogs, two in each compartment. They were left with water and I left the back door and boot open on my Land Rover Discovery.
“My wife and I had four children, my wife had just given birth.
“She had gone out to visit her aunt but came back a short while later saying she couldn’t cope with the drive with all the children.
“I said I would take them, this was around 10am. It was otherwise unplanned. I was gone until approximately 4pm.
“When I returned I was shocked to find the boot had been closed. Three out of four had perished. I was distraught. I did what I could to cool Rocky down before taking him to the vet.
“I do not accept I am directly responsible for their deaths but I do accept I left the dogs unattended for too long.
“At gun dog trials, dogs are routinely kept in crates in the back of vehicles, it is standard practice in the industry.
“I regret the incident immensely.”
Ms Fagan told the court her client was “deeply sorry” for the loss of the two dogs owned by others.
The prosecution said they accepted the basis as there was “nothing we can disprove” and stated they were not actively seeking a disqualification from keeping animals.
The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be carried out, but Claridge-Fleming could face jail time when he returns to be sentenced in August.
The maximum penalty for causing unnecessary suffering is five years in prison.
Recorder Richard Onslow said: “I can’t tell you what sort of sentence it will be. There are no promises, no guarantees.”