Pōkeno dog breeder animal-welfare trial: Volkerson Kennels owner Barbara Glover, daughter guilty

Volkerson Kennels owner Barbara Glover has been found guilty of 32 violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Photo / Supplied

A woman who was previously considered one of New Zealand's top dog breeders - before a large-scale SPCA raid on her Pōkeno "puppy farm" that landed her on the organisation's "list of shame" - has been found guilty of animal welfare charges alongside her daughter.

Volkerson Kennels owner Barbara Glover and her daughter, Janine Wallace, have each been convicted of 32 violations of the Animal Welfare Act - 26 counts each of failing to meet the physical, health and behavioural needs of an animal and six counts of failing to alleviate the pain or distress of an ill animal.

Manukau District Court Judge Karen Grau announced her judgment today, following a three-week judge-alone trial that took place in January.

Janine Wallace and her mother, Barbara Glover, have each been found guilty of 32 Animal Welfare Act violations. Photo / File

The pair are set to be sentenced in June.

Glover has been recognised in the past as the country's top German Shepherd breeder, importing pedigree bloodlines and selling puppies online for thousands of dollars.

But she became the subject of one of the SPCA's biggest ever prosecutions after a 2018 raid on her property south of Auckland. More than 30 animals were taken into SPCA care as a result of the raid, with the animal welfare agency describing squalid conditions that included some animals reportedly living among old food scraps and urine-soaked newspaper.

One of the dogs that the SPCA uplifted from the property in 2018. Photo / File

At least one of the animals had to be put down, the SPCA said at the time.

"The matts were thick with faeces, dry mud, and when he had his first bath, the water running off his coat was dark brown," the SPCA stated at the time of the raid.

In a 2019 "list of shame" brochure issued by the SPCA, the organisation described the scale of the investigation.

"SPCA Inspectors have spent months and over $300,000 investigating this
ongoing case, and a court ruling allowed SPCA to adopt out the German
Shepherds," the organisation said. "After being rescued, these dogs are now living happily with new families."