A man and a woman have faced a court after they left animals including snakes, spiders, tortoises and fish behind when they moved out of their home. The couple had claimed they had fled the property because of death threats.
Further, they said they had returned on alternating days to check on their animals, which they described as their "children". But they were found out when the RSPCA was tipped off.
RSPCA inspectors stepped in, seizing the animals, which included two Royal Pythons with skin conditions. Facing a magistrates' court, Emma Bayliss and Aaron Johnson admitted two offences of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal. They were each handed a 12-month community order, fined £120 each and banned from keeping animals for ten years when they appeared on Thursday, reports BirminghamLive.
Prosecutor Gemma Tibbatts told the court: "This matter relates to the prolonged neglect of two snakes, in particular Royal Pythons. Those animals were left unattended within the property for some time."
She told the court one of the reptiles had a mouth infection, while the other was unable to shed its skin. They had been left between May 25 and June 8 last year.
Ms Tibbatts continued: "Information was received which led to inspectors attending the property on May 26 last year and placing seals on the doors. There was a further visit on June 1 by an RSPCA inspector.
"The tape seals on the front door looked as if they had been potentially messed with. They were still in place on the door. The inspector could see there were animals within the property."
Inspectors made subsequent visits before a relative of the couple gave them permission to enter on June 8, when they took the animals away. Ms Tibbatts told the court both defendants were arrested and claimed they left the home for more than four months due to receiving death threats, but returned at least twice a week to feed and tend to the animals. The prosecutor reiterated that the RSPCA did not accept that the couple made regular visits to the property, due to the unbroken door seals.
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Elle-May Macey, mitigating, told the court both Bayliss and Johnson had a number of mental health issues which impacted their "consequential thinking". She said: "They stated they returned at least two times a week. The reason they left was not out of choice, it was a case of them receiving threats to kill them, their house to be petrol-bombed, Mr Johnson's throat to be slit and Ms Bayliss' uterus to be shoved down it.
"They had reported it to the police and had taken necessary steps however as the police were unhelpful they felt like they were really unsafe. They went to stay with the defendant's sister.
"In the time they had been attending they were concerned about the welfare of the snakes, they were their children in some regards. But in those moments they had been at the home they were being threatened. They were doing the necessary changing of water, cleaning out the enclosures and making sure the electricity was still on."
She added that the couple did not notice any issues with the snakes due to the "urgency" of the circumstances when they returned to the property in Dudley. Ms Macey also told the court that wounds on the snakes were already present after the defendants had purchased them from someone online, who had found them in a bin.
Bayliss, aged 36, of Flavells Lane, Lower Gornal, and Johnson, 37, of Buckingham Grove, Kingswinford, where the animals were found, must each carry out 30 days rehabilitation activity as well as pay a £114 victim surcharge and £200 costs.
The Chair of the Bench at Birmingham Magistrates' Court said: "You are disqualified from owning or keeping animals for a period of 10 years because of the suffering you caused the animals that were in your care and your disregard for their health and welfare over an extended period of time."
