Sheffield woman who subjected pets to 'serious neglect' banned from keeping animals

CREDIT: RSPCA

A woman who subjected her pets to a ‘serious level of neglect’, allowing them to live in 'squalor' has been given a suspended eight-week prison sentence and banned from keeping animals for a decade.A dog and four cats were found living amongst rubbish, faeces and mouldy food in conditions that were described as ‘unfit for humans’, after their owner Susan Russell had ignored a warning by the RSPCA to clean the house. Shadow, a black and tan Chihuahua type dog, was also suffering from widespread skin disease which had caused him to lose his fur in multiple areas, and all the cats had flea infestations.

At a sentencing hearing on August 13, Sheffield Magistrates said the neglect had been of a ‘prolonged nature’ and that Russell was not fit to keep animals for ‘the foreseeable future.’The court was told that RSPCA Inspectors Vanessa Reid and Kim Greaves had gone to the first floor flat in Mather Walk on May 4 last year to check that Russell had complied with an improvement notice that had been issued earlier by the charity.Inspector Reid went to the flat in May last year to check that Russel had complied with an improvement notice.

She said: “I could see the curtains to the property were filthy, and the balcony was still full of belongings and rubbish so I suspected little improvements had been made.

"The property was a complete mess with rubbish, faeces, belongings, mouldy food and containers all strewn across the entire area.”

Russell was not at the flat and other people who were there at the time refused to allow the animals to be taken for veterinary care. A month later, a warrant was carried out alongside South Yorkshire Police.

This time Russell was there and it was explained to her that her pets were being removed because she had failed to clean up where they were living.The court was told that the smell was so bad that one of the police officers said he couldn’t stay inside as it was making him nauseous.A vet said in his opinion Shadow had been caused to suffer unnecessarily through Russell’s failure to treat his widespread skin disease.In his written evidence to the court the vet said: “The environment was absolutely unfit for the habitation of cats and dogs, clearly exposing them to danger and squalor, with no signs of adequate nor appropriate enrichment being provided. The level and nature of the soiling makes it clear that this has been going on for an extended period of time.“Shadow had widespread skin disease – including alopecia of his ears, armpit, belly, hindlimbs and towards the back of his tail, as well as notable erythema. He had flea dirt over his skin and through his remaining coat and he was markedly pruritic, scratching regularly at himself throughout the consultation.“It would have been obvious to any reasonable owner that the environment they were kept in was not fit for housing animals and compromised their welfare by being a danger to them and failing to provide a safe and adequate setting for them."

In mitigation, Russell’s solicitor said the photographs submitted in the case showed a property which was unsuitable for human habitation, let alone animals.

He said it was clear that something had gone ‘catastrophically wrong’, and Russell accepted that she was responsible for the prevailing conditions found by the RSPCA.The court was told she was suffering from poor mental health and ‘complex’ health conditions and was therefore deserving of sympathy. She had also been served a notice by the council to clean the property and had done so.Magistrates indicated that, in their view, the offences had passed the custody threshold because of the prolonged nature and serious level of neglect evidenced in the case and that Russell was not a ‘fit and proper person to keep animals for the foreseeable future’.They imposed an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and a ten-year ban on keeping animals which cannot be contested for five years.

Russell was also given a suspended sentence order, to include 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement Days, and ordered to pay costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £154.The animals are now being re-homed.

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