A woman in Leeds has caused quite a furore after taking a huge sum of money for puppy deposits - then blocking customers when they asked where their dogs were.
Carey Sunderland from Tadcaster is accused of taking over £12,000 in deposits for puppies before blocking the customers who had transferred her the money.
A total of fiteen different families have come forward to claim they were victims of the scam, after sending money for the puppies and then hearing nothing back.
They said they were since blocked after messaging her to ask for updates on their dogs.
Mrs. Sunderland's two Hungarian Vizslas
Those who responded to Sunderland's advert say they paid between £200 and £500 each as a preliminary deposit, with the expectation that they would then come and collect their Hungarian Vizsla puppies once they'd had a good amount of time to socialise with their litter mates.
Months later, however, those who send money still say they are yet to hear anything back from the seller who seems to have disappeared into thin air.
A number have since joined forces through Facebook to fight back against the injustice, After comparing their experiences, they realised that they were not the only ones to be ignored after sending money.
In response, it's understood that the Sunderland family have since threatened to get the North Yorkshire Police involved - with Mrs. Sunderland's husband understood to have messaged some families claiming they were "harrassing" his wife.
The dog it was believed Mrs. Sunderland would breed the puppies from
Reportedly, he also claimed that his wife's bank account had been frozen before passing the blame back on to the families that have been. left out of pocket.
Reporting from Leeds Live suggests that only one person has received a deposit back so far, a David Bamford from Sheffield.
He told the paper that he was promised that he could have the first dog, only to discover that the same promise had been made multiple times elsewhere.
Others, meanwhile, continue to be out of pocket after having hopefully sent across money for the dogs.
Dog and puppy scams have been on the rise since the start of the Covid pandemic, with many people being scammed by traders.
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When Yorkshire is due to get hot as a fourth heatwave of the year hits the UK
Yes, ANOTHER heatwave is set to hit the UK - the fourth in 2026 so far - and, understandably, Yorkshire residents are already preparing for the latest blast of hot weather and wondering when it arrives.
Yes, in case you missed the news, more high temperatures are set to spread across the UK and Ireland this month and heading into August.
The increase will gradually build throughout this week, with Wednesday tipped to be the hottest day according to various meteorologists.
While Yorkshire thankfully isn't quite slated to get the sweatiest, parts of the Midlands and the usual suspects down south are set to hit the highest numbers, but the thermometers are still on course to reach around the mid-20s over the coming days.
Estimates of 26°C were predicted for this coming Tuesday, with the levels floating in and around 24/25 on the following Wednesday.
The heat is then due to drop off slowly, with top scores of no higher than 21°C on the cards for Thursday and Friday. Although the weekend forecast is less certain at present, one thing that has been announced is reduced rainfall.
Aside from a few more trickles today (Mon, 27 July), the showers or lack thereof cease rather soon, with some of the driest parts of the country already having various effects; for instance, parched parts of Wales have even revealed lost archaeological sites last Friday (24/7/2026).
It would be remiss if we didn't mention the obvious moorland fires across our region, which were sadly exacerbated by hot weather earlier this month.
At least it'll be a bit cooler here than in other parts of the country. ☀️
Bus operator partners with Leeds hospitals to help mums-to-be make vital appointments
Clementine Hall
First Bus is partnering with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to support vulnerable women during pregnancy.
The bus operator is providing an incredible 1,000 day tickets to help vulnerable mums-to-be make appointments.
The free travel passes can be provided by maternity teams to women mainly from minority or disadvantaged communities, helping them to attent important check-ups and appointments.
A recent review of records estimates that 100 pregnant women every month struggle to make hospital appointments as they have no access to funding support or face other barriers to transport.
Image: Supplied
First Bus will provide 100 day tickets per month until March 2027 for midwives to distribute to women based on travel needs following a financial assessment which is carried out during their initial appointment with the maternity team.
Nada Abdul-Majid, Specialist Midwife Health Equity at the Trust, said: “I’ve seen first-hand how women struggle to get to their hospital appointments if they don’t have enough money to use public transport.
“Our Haamla team carry out home visits to these vulnerable women however, it is important that families are able to travel to the hospital for scans, doctors’ appointments, labour and obstetric emergencies.”
Zoe Hands, Managing Director of First Bus Franchising which includes the West Yorkshire region, said: “Supporting communities in the areas we serve means, where we can, being able to assist people in all stages of life. Nothing can be more important than helping to ensure the health and welfare of mothers-to-be and the benefits this will bring to their newborn children.
“We’re pleased to be working in partnership with the Trust and seeing the positive impact our travel support can make to the lives of vulnerable women in Leeds.
“We’re really grateful to First Bus for providing these tickets for women so they can receive maternity care without worrying about the cost of travel to and from appointments,” added Nada. “This will make a real difference to mothers and babies.”
Georgina Pellant -
7th August 2021 
