A puppy smuggler has been arrested in Spain after fleeing abroad to avoid jail.
Laura Kiseliova was sentenced to four years in prison in her absence after she was on the run with co-defendant Raimondas Titas.
The pair had been caught selling dogs, which were kept in dirty, cramped cages, from an illegal pet shop in Prestwich.
In 2016, Kiseliova pleaded guilty to a number of charges, including importing puppies and passing them off as UK bred and failing to protect animals from suffering.
Sentencing was then delayed for a year when Kiseliova unsuccessfully tried to withdraw her guilty plea.
The pair were then due to appear before Manchester Magistrates' Court in June 2017, but they did not turn up.
They were then sentenced in their absence in December, 2018.
On Tuesday, Salford City Council confirmed that Kiseliova had been arrested in Spain and is due in court this week.
Titas, who was sentenced to three years and six months in jail, remains at large.
Salford City Council's trading standards team were alerted to the issue in 2013, after the couple were twice stopped from importing dogs at ports in Kent.
A local vet also raised the alarm about a puppy that had been sold in Salford, but which had an Eastern European microchip.
Police, along with the RSPCA and trading standards officers, raided two houses in Salford and one in Prestwich.
During the raid in Prestwich, in 2013, 41 dogs and puppies and eight cats and kittens were found.
Officers found more than 40 pet passports at the property, which didn't match the dogs at the home.
The animals included French bulldogs and pugs, as well as pedigree cats.
They were being sold for between £800 and £1,000 each.
The pair made around 680 sales, generating between £230,000 and more than £300,000.
Speaking at the time of the sentencing, RSPCA SOU Chief Insp Ian Briggs said: “It was obvious that this duo were dealing and trading in a large number of animals and that many of them were not receiving the appropriate care and veterinary attention they needed.
“Some of the animals were suffering from problems such as conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis or had sore and infected wounds.”
Coun David Lancaster, lead member for environment and community safety, at Salford City Council, said he was 'delighted' Kiseliova has been caught.
He said: “I am delighted she is back to face justice and pay for her crimes.
"Kiseliova risked importing diseases with the animals she traded so callously as well as defrauding customers and causing them distress.”
