Hull pet shop owner banned from keeping exotic animals after snakes found starved

A pet shop owner from Hull has been convicted of animal cruelty after six snakes died due to extreme neglect.

RPSCA inspectors visited Andrea Maxine Darnell's shop last year after concerns were raised about the welfare of the animals.

They found the premises at Saville Street were overcrowded, with "animals being kept in dirty, inappropriate conditions ."

The 59-year-old was issued with animal welfare notices requiring her to make urgent improvements.

Inspectors revisited the shop a month later but Darnell had failed to make changes.

One room had 18 young snakes in a racking system without thermostats and many had no water available.

Six of the snakes upstairs were in "particularly poor condition."

RSPCA inspectors said five corn snakes and one Royal Python were cold to the touch, underweight and close to death.

The snakes were seized and the pet-shop owner's licence was revoked.

All of the snakes died and a vet reported that they had been dehydrated and extremely emaciated, with significant weight loss.

They had suffered from mites and some showed suggestions of metabolic bone disease.

The vet believed starvation and dehydration were the probable cause of death.

RSPCA Inspector Laura Barber said: "There was no excuse for not providing those poor snakes with their basic needs and failing to seek veterinary care for them when it was abundantly clear that they so desperately needed it.

"These were awful cases and simply shouldn’t have happened. The RSPCA urges anyone struggling to take care of their animals to ask for help, rather than neglecting them and leaving them to suffer.”

Darnell, of Wivern Road, in Hull pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to six snakes at Hull Magistrates Court.

She was handed a 10-year ban on keeping any exotic pet and sentenced to 12-month Community Order of 250 hours of unpaid work.

Darnell was also ordered to pay £400 costs and £154 Victim Surcharge. A Confiscation Order was also made in relation to four tarantula spiders.

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