Pair's animals found caked in filth

Dogs, cats, rabbits and chinchillas were found living a life of misery in a Walsall home which was caked in "filth".

Andrew Kempson, 37, and Deborah Nicklin, 36, were sentenced yesterday at Walsall Magistrates' Court.

They pleaded guilty to five counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals and three counts of failing to ensure their needs were met.

When the police searched their home in St Johns Road, Alumwell, earlier this year, it was described as the worst place one officer had ever seen.

The animals had been living in "intense squalor", RSPCA prosecutor Nick Sutton said.

He added: "PC Foster described it as the worst premises he'd been to.

"The smell and flies caused him such difficulty he had to leave the premises because he felt he had to vomit."

The court heard a young rottweiler was found in a cage, with a second rottweiler being found in a small room.

Both dogs had no experience of social interaction and had to be put down due to them turning wild and savage when officers tried to seize them, Mr Sutton said.

The court was told the lives of the officers had been put at serious risk during the capture.

Mr Sutton, speaking about one of the dogs, told the hearing: "When the veterinary surgeon examined it they formed the conclusion the animal was so savage it had to be put down."

He said the couple had told officers they had locked the pets up because there was a gap in some fencing in their garden and they feared the dogs might escape.

Mr Sutton said the couple had taken a dog to the PDSA to have an operation last December, but had failed to make an appointment to have stitches out.

In one of the bedrooms, rabbits were found in cages.

Mr Sutton said: "They were in inches of excrement and compacted bedding. They were underweight and flea infested."

The two chinchillas were bought last Christmas and had fewer problems.

Recovering the animals cost the RSPCA £970.25 and vet bills amounted to £564.94. The couple were fined £1,975.20 in total and banned from keeping pets for 20 years.

They were each handed an 18 week prison sentence suspended for two years, with a two year supervision requirement.