A dog breeder who sold animals to celebrities and was followed on social media by rapper Snoop Dogg has been convicted of animal welfare offences after a court heard he arranged for puppies' ears to be illegally cropped.
Eugene Vatsaloo, of Tonyrefail in Rhondda Cynon Taf, was found guilty of 13 offences on Friday 2 October 2026 following a five-day trial at Cardiff Crown Court. He had operated under the kennel name Prizebullz Kennels, breeding bully-type dogs that attracted millions of views on social media.
The RSPCA brought the prosecution after a witness bought a puppy from Vatsaloo with cropped ears. Ear cropping is an illegal procedure in which part of the ear is cut or clipped, and it has been banned in the UK for decades. Paperwork from another RSPCA investigation into ear cropping also led back to Vatsaloo, and he was linked to bully breeders around the world.
The court heard that Vatsaloo's social media activity showed he had been arranging for puppies to have their ears cropped for a period of at least two years. During the trial, his representatives spoke openly about his online popularity. Vatsaloo said he had 415,000 followers, including A-listers such as Snoop Dogg, and that some of his posts attracted millions of views. He also boasted about having sold a dog with uncropped ears to the Kardashians.
RSPCA officers joined South Wales Police to execute a warrant at Vatsaloo's Tonyrefail home in May 2024. Parts of the property matched images from his own social media posts showing the dogs in his care after being cropped. The charity's Field Investigations Team identified at least 13 dogs bred by Vatsaloo, which remained in his care and had been cropped.
Speaking after the verdict, lead investigator Caroline Richardson said the case demonstrated how social media fame had been used to normalise an illegal and painful procedure. The conviction of a breeder who traded on celebrity connections and a huge online following marks a significant win for the charity's campaign against ear cropping.
Vatsaloo will be sentenced at a later date. The case has renewed calls for tighter enforcement against a practice that animal welfare organisations say is being glamorised by influencers and celebrity-owned pets.
Vatsaloo will be sentenced at a later date. Ear cropping, historically associated with bully breeds, has been illegal in the UK under animal welfare legislation for decades, and campaigners say social media has fuelled a resurgence by glamourising the look. The RSPCA said it receives hundreds of reports of the practice each year and has called for stricter enforcement against breeders who market cropped dogs as status symbols. The conviction was secured under the Animal Welfare Act after a prosecution that highlighted the suffering caused to at least 13 dogs over a two-year period.