CONVICTED (2014) | Sarah Louise Peers, born c. 1987, of Chester Close, St Matthews, Leicester LE1 2GX – neglected her cats and left them to starve to death
The bodies of cats Sylvester and Sparkle were found by police officers who broke into Peers’ home in April 2014 after receiving reports of a foul smell coming from inside.
The RSPCA prosecutor told the court that when officers looked through the front and back windows they were greeted with the sight of swarms of flies.
He said: “They saw the flat was full of flies and when they broke down the door and gained entry there was also cat faeces throughout the property and a strong odour of decay.
“They checked the rooms and found two dead cats. One was on the sofa in the living room and the other on a bed.”
RSPCA inspector Clint Davies was called to the scene and found the animals surrounded by faeces and maggots.
Peers pleaded guilty to charges of failing to ensure the cats’ needs and failing to protect them from any pain, injury, suffering or disease which could lead to their deaths.
Sentencing | 16-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months; 100 hours of community service; £330 costs and charges. ordered to attend the Just Woman probation programme. Banned from keeping any type of animal for 10 years (expires December 2024).
Original source: Leicester Mercury (article removed).
CONVICTED (2014) | Dean Ross, born 18 October 1984, then of Caponhill Road, Tranent but with family links to Windsor Park Terrace, Musselburgh* – starved his pet dog and buried him in the garden after the animal died from malnutrition
Dean Ross, a former soldier who served in the 40th Regiment Royal Artillery, failed to regularly feed five-year-old Weimaraner Dexter or take him to the vet for urgent lifesaving treatment.
After starving Dexter Ross gave the pedigree dog a large amount of food which resulted in the animal’s sudden death from a condition called re-feeding syndrome.
After Dexter died, Ross buried his emaciated body in the back garden of his home in Tranent in East Lothian.
Dean Ross starved his two dogs bur only Roxy (main image) survived. The SSPCA were forced to dig up the emaciated body of the other dog, Dexter, after Ross buried it in his back garden
Depute fiscal Graham Fraser told the court the Scottish SPCA received a report concerning Dexter in February 2013. After an excavation order was obtained, the animal’s remains were dug up from Ross’s back garden.
Veterinary examination found the dog was less than half the weight he should have been, with a body score of one over nine
Ross, now a plumbing engineer, told the authorities he was no longer able to “afford the necessary veterinary treatment”.
Mr Fraser added: ““There was a combination of the lack of veterinary care and inadequate diet, and the vet’s attention should have been sought.”
He said Dexter had died from re-feeding syndrome, which can result in the sudden death of starved animals who are suddenly provided with food.
He added: “His [the pathologist] opinion is that the dog’s very poor condition indicated that the welfare had been ‘significantly compromised’.”
The court heard it would have taken “several months” for Dexter to become so ill, and an animal pathologist report stated the dog’s weight loss and eventual death was due to “long-term lack of food”.
The pathologist’s report added any failure to provide enough nourishment to an animal over several months would have “led to widespread organ failure”.
Ross pleaded guilty to failing to provide veterinary attention and a wholesome diet for Dexter and another Weimaraner named Roxy.
Sentencing Ross, Sheriff Peter Braid described his treatment of Dexter as “sickening in the extreme”.
Inspector Emma Phillips, of the Scottish SPCA, welcomed the life ban for Ross.
Surviving dog Roxy after being nursed back to health
Inspector Phillips said: “We were alerted when Ross’s female Weimaraner named Roxy was handed into another animal charity and they took her to a vets due to her poor body condition. Roxy was emaciated and weighed just 18kgs, which is half the weight she should have been.
“She had no muscle mass and all her bones were clearly visible.
“A blood test revealed no underlying health issues, confirming her weight loss had been caused by a lack of food. We were advised a second dog named Dexter had recently died at Ross’ property and was buried in the back garden.
“We arranged for Dexter’s body to be exhumed so a post mortem could be carried out. Dexter was severely emaciated and had protein-energy malnutrition, likely caused by a lack of food.
“We are pleased Ross has received a lifetime ban on owning animals following our investigation.
“While tragically it was too late for Dexter, Roxy made a full recovery in our care and has since found a loving new home where she is doing well.”
Sentencing | 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.. Lifetime ban on owning animals.
CONVICTED (2002, 2006 and 2014) | serial animal hoarders and abusers Glyndwr R Jones, born c. 1951, and Margaret A Jones, born c. 1957, and Philip Michael Jones, born c. 1997, of Llanerch Crescent, Gorseinon, Swansea SA4 4FP
The RSPCA thought it had dealt with Glyndwr and Margaret Jones’ four-legged obsession in November 2002 when a court restricted them to a handful of cats, dogs and rabbits after they recovered 56 cats, 23 gerbils, 22 rabbits, 20 snakes, 10 tarantulas, 10 hamsters, nine ferrets, five lizards, four mice, three rats and a dog in their three-bedroom semi-detached home.
But in December 2006 the couple was before the courts again after police and RSPCA officials found more than 70 cats and six dogs in their home.
A council housing official investigated the family after receiving a series of anonymous calls from neighbours.
She discovered it was home to dozens of animals in conditions so appalling the smell was detectable outside.
After stepping inside the house the official described the sight as “such chaos”.
“There were animals in cages under blankets, roaming free, there were rodents. It was virtually impossible to count the number of animals,” she said.
She said that she visited the house on two occasions and estimated there were up to 100 animals.
She also called in the council’s environmental health expert, Emyr Evans who successfully applied for a warrant to enter the house in October 2005.
Mr Evans said: “When we got in there, the first thing I noticed was an overpowering smell of ammonia. “
He said it was being used to disguise the smell of urine and was so strong it stung his eyes.
“There were a large number of cats and dogs, some of which were roaming around the property. In the lounge, behind each chair, was a litter tray – the litter trays were full to over-flowing,” said Mr Evans.
The day after the visit a notice was served on the couple ordering them to tidy the property and clean its surfaces.
That order was withdrawn and served on their teenage son Philip Michael Jones after it was decided he was the owner of the animals.
The family told council officials some of the animals were rescued, some belonged to Carmarthenshire College and others were pets of two younger daughters.
Two of the animals, a Yorkshire Terrier and a cat, had to be put down after the RSPCA seized them.
All the animals in the house were underfed and almost all recovered and gained weight after being taken away.
In court Glyndwr Jones and his wife claimed their “enthusiastic” son Philip was solely in charge of the animals apart from a single cat, a cross Persian called Smokey, which was Mrs Jones’s pet.
But the district judge said as tenants of Swansea Council and parents the two “senior defendants must have had control over what came into the house”.
Philip Michael Jones told the court he rescued kittens, pups and other animals and claimed recognised bodies such as the RSPCA would not take them in.
Describing himself as “on the sick” and a former residential home care worker, he said he loved animals more than humans because he had been bullied at school.
He added he once paid a £1,500 vet’s bill for medical aid for a kitten which had been abandoned on a motorway.
Ultimately, all three defendants were found guilty of cruelty to dogs and cats.
In January 2007 Glyndwr and Margaret Jones were given 56-day suspended jail sentences and fined £2,000 each.
Philip Michael Jones was banned from keeping animals for two years and ordered to do 150 hours community work.
In April of 2013, another RSPCA and police raid found 31 dogs and 10 cats at their home.
In July 2014, Glyndwr Jones and Margaret Jones were convicted of breaching the lifetime ban and given 165-day suspended jail terms.
They were ordered to pay £250 each towards the £67,000 cost of the operation (including kennelling).
Philip Michael Jones was fined £175 and ordered to pay £250 costs for keeping animals in unhygienic conditions.
In December 2014 the three appealed against the convictions at Swansea Crown Court but Judge Michael Burr sitting with two magistrates dismissed the appeals and said conditions in the house were “disgusting”.
CONVICTED (2014) | Robert James Mcaleenan, born c. 1959, and son Conor Mcaleenan, born 21 February 1986, of 210 Lisnevenagh Road, Antrim BT41 2JT – jailed for a catalogue of animal cruelty offences against dozens of horses, ponies and donkeys
Robert and Conor Mcaleenan were jailed for allowing horses and ponies to suffer horrifically
Travellers Robert and Conor Mcaleenan were jailed after police discovered a ‘scene of horror’ at their farm, with decomposing dead horses among those still alive.
The case was triggered by a tip-off from a member of the public. The scene that confronted vets and PSNI officers on November 22, 2011, was one of horror.
Conor Mcaleenan
Cruel horse traders Robert and Conor Mcaleenan from Antrim
They were faced with an overpowering stench of dead animals which had been dumped in a heap on the farm, with numerous other standing around in filth, starving and left to fend for themselves.
Conor Mcaleenan
One vet said: “The scale of what I saw was unbelievably large. The father and son had fundamentally failed to protect the animals, failed to address the most basic health and husbandry requirements.
“Some of the animals were in such a pitiful state of suffering that they had to be euthanised on humane grounds.”
Robert Mcaleenan
Judge Desmond Marrinan told the Mcaleenans: “This is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty that I have encountered and you should be thoroughly ashamed of your callous behaviour.”
The judge said he was unimpressed by the men’s defence and found no substance in claims the pair had not set out to deliberately cause suffering or distress to the animals.
He told the court the case photographs were “horrific… almost unbelievable”, and said: “The evidence bore testimony to the fact they treated these poor animals in a pitiless manner without the slightest regard for their welfare. In my view they are unfit to be carers for any animal.”
Sentencing: Conor Mcaleenan, who had owned the animals, was jailed for 14 months.
Robert James Mcaleenan, who owns the farm between Antrim and Ballymena, was given nine months.
The pair were banned from keeping animals for 25 years.
In January 2018 the Mcaleenans reappeared in court accused of breaching their ban on keeping animals. The outcome of their latest court case is unknown, however.
We collate data on animal cruelty convictions in the UK
