A woman kept 90 dogs at her home in 'horrendous conditions', depriving them of food and water and forcing them to live surrounded by faeces and urine, a court has heard.
Julie Newcombe, 42, was found to have been keeping the animals in an 'entirely unsuitable environment' that RSPCA officers said was 'amongst the worst [they] had encountered in 20 years'. Officers also found a dead dog in a van outside the house, and a number of decomposing puppies.
Newcombe denied one offence under the Animal Welfare Act but was found guilty of not ensuring the needs of the animals were met. At a sentencing hearing at Newport Magistrates Court yesterday (Thursday October 27), she was banned from keeping dogs for five years, reports WalesOnline.
District judge Sophie Toms said she would struggle to forget the 'disgusting' images of the Dachshunds, Labradors, and French Bulldogs shown during the trial.
Police visited Newcombe's house in Blaenau Gwent on September 1, 2020 where they found 90 dogs whose condition gave officers "serious cause for concern." James Harris, prosecuting, said officials from the RSPCA attended and removed the dogs and found 78 of them had no access to water when they were seized.
Mr Harris said 78 dogs were also found to be living in an "entirely unsuitable environment". Describing the scene RSPCA officers came across, he said there were "faeces all over the place" and that the smell in the property was described as "absolutely disgusting", adding that a number of the dogs required treatment by a vet in the days after they were seized.
As well as the live animals, Mr Harris said a dead dog was found in a van outside the house while a number of decomposing puppies were also discovered during the raid. He said Newcombe had been "unaware" of the puppies and added that prosecutors had been unable to determine whether the case of one dog which died days after being removed had been due to Newcombe's treatment.
Alex Weller, defending, said Newcombe had been suffering from "horrific" personal circumstances and had been a victim of domestic abuse around the time the offences took place. He said she would be in a difficult position to pay any costs from the trial due to the fact she wasn't working and received income support and disability living allowance.
He disagreed with prosecution concerns that Newcombe would be at risk of breeding dogs again, adding that she had had some cats returned to her after the offences took place.
"If there was risk to animals, then the cats would not have been returned to her," he said. Mr Weller added that Newcombe, who was tearful and repeatedly put her head in her hands, had not tried to acquire dogs since and had "made enormous changes to her life and her house" including cleaning it up and enrolling in full time education. He said she had been receiving support for her mental health and intended to get a job after finishing her studies.
District judge Sophie Toms said she had taken account of Newcombe's difficult circumstances in the lead up to the offences being committed but added that she would struggle to forget the "disgusting conditions" of the animals and house shown in court during the trial.
She disagreed that Newcombe had "had no control" over the keeping of the dogs and said she "could have called for help." She said the difficulties faced by animal welfare workers in removing the dogs was an aggravating factor but conceded that the defendant had "found herself in the most desperate of situations" and had shown genuine attempts to rebuild her life including enrolling in education.
Ms Toms banned Newcombe, of Trefil Road in Tredegar, from being involved in the keeping of dogs for five years. She can apply for a review after 12 months. She also imposed a 12-month community order requiring Newcombe to complete 20 days of women-specific programmes, and she must also pay costs of £1,000 towards the prosecution.
Following the sentencing RSPCA inspector Darren Oakley said the conditions in the house when the dogs were seized were "horrendous. "The dogs had no food or water, the only few that did have water were the ones with outside access due to the rain," he said. “When food and water was placed down, for the loose dogs, they ate/drank ravenously. The conditions inside the house were horrendous; the floors were covered in faeces with dogs in cages living in their own filth.
“Every room contained more dogs and pups, the whole house had become one large disgusting kennel. The smell and sights were clearly having an affect on the police who were in attendance."
Mr Oakley said the outbuildings of the property were "worse than the house. On entry the stench coming from them was overpowering. It was hard to see into any of the outbuildings due to no lighting. The noises from inside them were horrific.” statement Inspector Oakley said: “The dogs had no food or water, the only few that did have water were the ones with outside access due to the rain.
RSPCA inspector Simon Evans, who also attended the property, described it as "amongst the worst I had encountered in my 20 year career within the RSPCA." He said this included two rooms that contained a large number of dogs who were trying to get their attention through the bars of child-proof gates.
“I found the conditions within these two utility rooms to be completely overpowering," he said. "I was soaked with sweat and, due to the high levels of ammonia in the air, my throat began to get sore.”
Inspector Evans said he was contacted by one of the vets who had been looking after some of the dogs to say that a puppy had developed symptoms of parvo virus and had deteriorated to the extent that it had to be euthanised. In early September 2020 after the dogs were taken, several other puppies became sick and either died or were put to sleep to prevent suffering.
Shortly after the dogs came into RSPCA care numerous litters of puppies were born leading to the animal welfare charity having a total of 137 dogs, which included all the pups born in their care.
RSPCA chief inspector Elaine Spence said: “We’d like to thank Gwent Police and the officers who were in attendance who carried out their duties under distressing circumstances and conducted themselves in an exceptionally professional manner.
“It took a large number of RSPCA officers many hours over two days to remove 95 dogs in difficult conditions. For the officers involved - many of whom were longstanding and experienced officers - who worked on this case it will sadly leave an imprint on them for a very long time.
“I would like to thank all of my colleagues who attended and worked on this case for their professionalism. Thankfully we are very pleased to say that these dogs are now living happily in forever homes.
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