CONVICTED (2017) | Tonya Haughton, born 26/11/80, and daughter Carmen Lyth, born 21/6/99, of Blakelow Road, Abbey Hulton, Stoke-on-Trent ST2 – kept dozens of guinea pigs and rabbits in shocking conditions
Carmen Lyth (pictured) and her mother Tonya Laughton pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to 11 guinea pigs and four rabbits.
The RSPCA was contacted by the Stoke-on-Trent City Council in April 2017 after a council employee became concerned about smells coming from a property in Trowbridge Crescent, Bentilee, where the pair were living at the time.
When an RSPCA inspector attended, she found 42 dead guinea pigs wrapped in puppy training pads in a hutch in the garden, and two bags of dead guinea pigs inside the house.
There were also emaciated rabbits in the garden, and the house was covered in faeces.
Overall, Haughton and Lyth had around 130 animals in the house.
RSPCA inspector Charlotte Melvin said: “There were four cages of guinea pigs in the living room and more guinea pigs kept outside in the garden. There were even more cages dotted around the house.
“We found a dead guinea pig inside the property and when we asked what happened, we were told that the guinea pig was dying that morning but that they hadn’t had time to deal with it.
“The conditions inside the house were shocking and the animals were in terrible states. The rabbits which we found in the garden were so thin that it was a surprise they were still alive.
“It really was such a shock to see animals being kept in this way. It is clear that the animals had been deteriorating for some time and it should never have got to this point.”
The RSPCA had 57 surviving animals signed over to them, who will be rehomed.
Sentencing:
Haughton – 12-week suspended sentence. Disqualified from keeping animals for life.
Lyth – 18-month conditional discharge. Disqualified from keeping animals for just 5 years (expired November 2022).
On 11 September 2018 the Stoke-on-Trent Live news site reported that the horrified new tenant of the property had found 28 dead guinea pigs wrapped in puppy pads and buried in shallow graves in her back garden. These were in addition to the 42 found by the RSPCA last year.