Crawley woman banned from keeping animals for life after dogs and cats rescued from her home

A woman from Crawley has been banned from keeping animals for life after dogs and cats were rescued from her home.

Jay Clarke of Black Dog Walk, Crawley, was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to complete 10 rehabilitation activity requirement sessions.

She was also disqualified from keeping all animals for life.

It follows a visit to her home from the RSPCA in April last year after concerns were raised about the welfare of animals living there.

A total of 16 dogs and two cats were seized and were later signed over for rehoming by the RSPCA.

RSPCA inspector Tony Woodley, who led the investigation, said: “The interior of the house was dimly lit.

"The ‘living room’ area with a sofa and very large TV was accessible by the cats, rottweilers and chihuahuas. There were food and water bowls in this area.

“To the rear of this was an area of approximately 4m x 2.5m which contained the spaniels.

"This area had a strong smell and the walls and floor were stained with either faeces or dirt or a mixture of the two.

"The floor had concrete missing in places and two dogs were cowering in the area where a draw was missing from a wooden chest of drawers.

"There were no water or food bowls in this area. In this area I saw packs of dog food but this was not accessible to the dogs.

“I was alarmed by the condition of many of these animals and there seemed to be a general lack of care for these animals. The spaniels looked like they had been roughly de-matted with a sharp implement and some of these dogs had open wounds.”

After being checked by a vet, many of the animals had untreated dental disease, ear infections, eye conditions and skin problems.

Some were lame and one had infected wounds.

Two of the spaniels were considered, by the vet, to be in a ‘severe condition’ including a female brown spaniel, called Betty who was rushed to vets for emergency treatment.