sarah smith is in charge of prosecuting illegal breeders. her team investigated christopher mae. these are obviously some of the cropped ears that were found at the time, and these had recently been done because they were still in the process of healing as well. actually, obviously it causes distress to the animal. it's not being done legitimately anywhere because it's an illegal practice, so this is being done, you know, behind closed doors, in people's homes or garages. he claimed he'd bought his dogs with their ears already cropped. he never replied for a license, so, therefore, he was never inspected, so officers couldn't check on the environment or the welfare.