CONVICTED (2018) | Kiki Stamatopoulou-Angelitos, born 22/02/1970, most recently of Gomer Gardens, Townhill, Swansea SA1 6QF but may now be living in Greece – on the run after dead and starving pets found in her filthy home
Angelitos was convicted in her absence after magistrates found three charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and three charges of failing to meet the welfare needs of an animal proven. She was due to be sentenced at the end of May 2018 but failed to attend and magistrates issued a warrant for her arrest.
But she has still not been located and a spokeswoman for South Wales Police said arrest enquiries were continuing.
During the hearing, Swansea Magistrates’ Court heard a dead dog was found in the garden of Angelitos’ home in Gomer Gardens, in Townhill, and had been decomposing for two weeks.
A “visibly bony” Malamute dog and several small animals in a bad state, together with six dogs which were kept in one room, were also found in the house.
Sarah Thyer, prosecuting on behalf of Swansea Council , told the court at the time that this was a “distressing case”.
Officers first visited the property on October 6, 2017, after concerns about animal welfare and of the state of the house had been raised. She added: “There was an extremely strong smell of rubbish.
“Rubbish bags were covering the floor to such a large quantity that officers had to walk on this [the rubbish].”
She said there were open bags of dog food as well and that, in the kitchen, the tap was running at full blast.
The “filth” from the floor was washed in with the overflowing water, she continued, and the dogs were drinking from this dirty water. In the first visit, the officer found a room had been barricaded with a large animal crate inside. They weren’t able to see inside clearly as it was dark, she continued, but were able to identify several animal cages and a dog.
A few days later, officers returned to the property and, in the overgrown garden, they found a dog crate in a hole. Inside the crate there was a dog carcass which showed signs of two weeks of decomposition.
She continued: “In one of the bedrooms there was a Malamute which was in a very bad condition.
“The pest warden brought the dog downstairs and it was visibly bony.
“In the same room there were two rabbits which had no access to water. Both rabbits had extremely long claws.
“They were given water and they drank large amounts of it.” The court heard that, in another bedroom, there were six dogs, a gerbil and a hamster, together with some empty cages.
Ms Thyer said Angelitos agreed to surrender a German Shepherd dog in January 2018.
The court heard she had owned the Malamute dog for a year and that she had had the small animals for 18 months.