Raymond Allen, Joymaree Allen face Blacktown Local Court on animal cruelty charges

A Sydney couple has been allowed to keep three dogs despite a shocking display of 'backyard breeding gone wrong', which resulted in dozens of puppies being seized.

Raymond and Joymaree Allen faced court on Thursday.

A Doonside couple has been allowed to keep three dogs and several other animals despite pleading guilty to animal cruelty charges following a shocking display of "backyard breeding gone wrong".

Raymond Allen, 59, faced Blacktown Local Court, where he and partner Joymaree Allen, 53, had previously pleaded guilty to multiple animal cruelty charges, on Thursday.

The couple admitted one charge each of committing an act of animal cruelty and failing to provide veterinary treatment while in charge of an animal.

Mrs Allen also pleaded guilty to a second charge of failing to provide veterinary treatment while in charge of an animal.

On Thursday, Mr Allen was sentenced to a 14-month conditional release order, which included an order that all animals at the property be removed, aside from three of their American staffordshire terriers, several chickens and a few fish.

One of the dogs, a female, had already been desexed following an earlier court order.

Mr Allen was also banned from purchasing, keeping or otherwise caring for any other animals other than the ones he was allowed to keep.

Mrs Allen was sentenced in the same courtroom on July 18, when the court was told she and her husband had several animals at their Doonside home, including dogs, chickens and aquarium fish.

She called the RSPCA requesting help in relation to her dogs, American staffordshire terriers, in September 2023, but when inspectors arrived they were horrified to find the conditions in which the animals were living.

Mr and Mrs Allen pleaded guilty.

The court was told inspectors discovered a strong smell of ammonia inside the house and found eight young adult staffies crammed into a small crate designed for one adult dog, which was also covered in dog poo.

Another seven adult dogs were found in the backyard and eight five-week-old puppies, with diarrhoea, were found in a bedroom.

The dogs had varying degrees of sickness with fleas, conjunctivitis and intestinal parasites.

The court was told the Allens had initially not told inspectors about the five-week-old puppies.

A budgie with a twisted beak and serious lesions was also found at the property and needed to be euthanised.

The court was told 25 of the 27 dogs on the property were the offspring of two non-desexed dogs belonging to Mrs Allen, with one desexed shortly after inspectors were called.

The offspring dogs were seized and taken to an RSPCA shelter. Mrs Allen was then ordered to have the parent dogs desexed immediately.

A menagerie of animals were mistreated under the couple's care.

Solicitor Andrea Fuller, appearing for the RSPCA, said the offending was “backyard breeding gone wrong”.

She said the dogs were not being bred for profit and the reason for the breeding was unknown.

Defence lawyer Andrew Bide told the court Mrs Allen had several health problems, including skin cancer, which had resulted in her “taking her eye off the ball” in relation to the animals.

Mr Bide said the offending was not a situation of a dog being deliberately mistreated but more so negligence through the inability to give proper care.

He said his client accepted she had done the wrong thing and it was “not fair” to the animals.

Her female dog, known as Bubba, was also booked in to be desexed in August.

Mrs Allen was seen dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief while Mr Bide spoke.

She was sentenced to a 12-month conditional release order and was ordered to pay $345.68 to the RSPCA.