The man who owns The Golden Retriever Experience in Somerset has been given an 18-week jail sentence and 10-year dog ban after keeping the animals in terrible conditions.
His Minehead attraction went viral in 2021, and people from all over the country were flocking to Minehead to pet and take pictures with around 40 Golden Retrievers. It blew up on social media, with people paying £70 for two hours with the dogs.
Nicolas St James, 62, pleaded guilty to four animal welfare charges on 19th June, 2025, and has now been sentenced to 18 weeks in jail, which has been suspended for a year, and a 10-year dog ban, the BBC reports. He has also been ordered to pay a £5,000 fine.
The charges he pled guilty to include failing to provide accommodation of sufficient size for the number of dogs, failing to keep the accommodation clean, failing to provide a comfortable place for the dogs to rest and failing to provide continuously available fresh clean drinking water.
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In May 2024, The Golden Retriever Experience had its licence revoked by Somerset Council following a police and RSPCA investigation.
The RSPCA told the court the animals were living in “grossly overcrowded” and unclean conditions, with 20 of the dogs being kept in a small galley kitchen with a concrete floor. Another 20 were kept in a small bedroom.
His dogs had limited resources, including food and water, and many of them has calluses on their bodies. A local vet told the court many of the dogs had been seen for fighting injuries, and two died from bite wounds.
District Judge Brereton told Nicolas St James the conditions he kept the dogs in was “woefully inadequate”. She said his attitude towards the dogs “bordered on arrogance” and he only cared about the money he would lose.
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“There has been no remorse or victim empathy – you were focused on your financial loss rather than the welfare of your dogs. This is one of the worst cases this court will deal with,” the judge added.
St James also pled not guilty to a number of other charges, including not providing an appropriate diet and pest control, not using proper training techniques, failing to keep the dogs safe from injury and failing to obtain proper medical attention for them when required.
He received multiple warnings after the investigation was launched, but no changes were made to the animals’ welfare.
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Featured image by: @thegoldenretrieverexperience/Instagram
