The animal rescue centre that became a mass graveyard of dogs

Warning: This article contains distressing content

Save A Paw was meant to be a place of hope for the dogs sent there by their owners.

But when police raided the animal rescue centre in Crays Hill, near Billericay in Essex, they discovered a mass graveyard.

Officers found 41 dead dogs and 21 that were still alive but in a dire condition.

Supt Leigh Norris, an Essex Police officer of 30 years, says what he saw in Hope Road was animal abuse on an unprecedented scale.

"It was an absolutely awful, squalid, very unhygienic scene," Norris remembers of his visit to Save A Paw.

"They were terrible conditions for people and animals to be around."

Neighbours and passers-by had tipped police off about the conditions, with some reporting whining and crying coming from the dogs.

It became immediately clear the dogs had been living in extreme squalor. Then the remains of 37 animals were found.

Norris tells the BBC some of the attending officers still struggle with what they saw.

"These were really quite difficult, challenging conditions to have to be working in and to try and gather evidence," the superintendent explains.

His officers returned to the property on 4 June and found the remains of four more dogs after dismantling an outbuilding. Some were underground.

"[The officers] remained there overnight while we awaited the dignified removal of the remains, because we felt that was absolutely the right thing to be doing," Norris adds.

Shannon Jade travelled from her home in Bedfordshire to the Hope Road property on the day of the first raid.

"It was very evident by the smell alone how bad it was. They kept bringing out bags and bags of evidence," she says.

"The dogs I saw pulled out were in shocking conditions, they were in an absolute state."

She dropped Chance, a mastiff she rescued, at Save A Paw in December 2024 in the hope Rahman could rehome him.

But the mother does not know what happened to him and describes the lack of answers as "mental torment".

"So many people stuck up for Rahman and defended him, but he knew exactly what he was doing," she adds.

Detectives have been undertaking a UK-wide investigation to identify the owners of each of the dead dogs.

Norris says more than 200 people from about 20 counties have contacted the force about the incident.

After the sentencing, Aidan McGurran, Labour cabinet member for environment and leisure, said: "We recognise the strength of feeling locally and the distress this case has caused across Basildon and beyond.

"Basildon Council remains fully committed to working closely with the police and partner agencies to prevent animal cruelty, to maintain high standards of animal welfare across the borough, and to do everything within our powers to help keep animals safe."

Daryll Olde is one of the anguished people pleading for answers about what happened to his dog, Tiny.

He feared the Tibetan mastiff's behaviour issues were putting his children at risk and, after several attempts to rehabilitate her, decided to use Save A Paw.

"[Rahman's] words were, 'I've got the exact place for her to be, rehomed on a farm protecting llamas'," says the 40-year-old.

"That would have been absolutely perfect for her."

Olde, from Maidstone in Kent, said he made the "very hard decision", in good faith, to pay Rahman £250 to take Tiny in December 2024.

It was after the raid in May that he saw on Facebook what had happened to some of the dogs.

"My heart was in the pit of my stomach. I did not sleep a wink that entire evening. I felt physically sick," Olde says.

"[Rahman] was meant to be an advocate for dog rescue; he was supposed to be helping them and instead they all wound up dead."

Olde does not know if Tiny is among the dead or not and has urged Essex Police to undertake a full excavation of the compound.

But Norris insists "really thorough" searches were conducted in both May and June, including in the garden, the house and in several bins.

"We spent many hundreds of hours there in total," he states.

The RSPCA and other charities have been working to rehome the 20 dogs found alive at the property.

Norris, a dog owner himself, says he is angry at Rahman for tricking people with "what was purported to be a legitimate business".

Perhaps what angers him most is that officers may never know the scale of what went on at Save A Paw.

"That's something that I wish I could change, but I can't," Norris concedes.

Officers have pored through thousands of pieces of evidence, including microchips found at the scene, but they say they have made only a "very small number" of connections to owners.

Norris continues: "There were many deceased animals found in various different states of decomposition. Really, truly horrible conditions."

Asked if he has ever seen an animal cruelty like this, he answers: "Never on this scale at all."