A man who kept 35 animals in his home with an "overpowering stench of faeces and urine," has avoided jail for causing unnecessary suffering to animals. RSPCA officers attended the property Alan Peckenham's property, after he was taken to hospital and were met with the awful conditions.
At the home in Thornton, Merseyside, 20 cats and three kittens, four dogs, three ferrets and snakes were discovered living in filthy, unhygienic conditions. A vet, who examined the animals, said it would have taken two full-time animal workers with help from volunteers to look after such a large number of animals, reports the LiverpoolECHO.
Two kittens died when being treated by vets and officers found four out of five snakes were in a decomposed state. Packenham, 39, was sentenced at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court after admitting four offences of causing unnecessary suffering to animals and one of failing to take steps to ensure the needs of the animals were met.
When RSPCA inspectors Lisa Lupson, Anthony Joynes and Nadine Pengilly went to the property on August 31, 2021, and discovered two female cats. One was severely underweight, in the bathroom, along with three kittens inside an open draw who were infested with fleas and in need of immediate medical attention.
The court heard two of three German Shepherd dogs, being kept with another cross breed canine, had also been left muzzled. There were also three ferrets left in a filthy rabbit hutch in a conservatory and the inspectors found the carcasses of four snakes left to rot in a bedroom.
In her witness statement, Inspector Lupson said: "There seemed to be faeces and rubbish on every available surface. I was shocked to see what appeared to be very decomposed snake carcasses. Some were very difficult to make out due to their extreme level of decomposition and one black snake appeared to be coiled around a log and to have just died in this position."
Inspector Pengilly said in her statement: "The kittens were crawling with fleas and appeared weak and lethargic. I had to check that they were not dead. There was no litter tray in the bathroom so the cats had been pooing and weeing in the bath.”
Veterinary surgeon Vanessa Whitfield, based at the RSPCA’s Greater Manchester Animal Hospital, concluded the three kittens, five of the cats and two of the German Shepherd dogs had all been allowed to suffer by their owner. In her report, the vet said: "Animal welfare organisations would have a minimum of two full-time members of staff, assisted by volunteers, to care for such a number of animals.
"This is clearly far too much for any single owner to contend with and it is not surprising the environment and level of animal care and husbandry was so poor. It is likely they [the failings] had been present for a minimum of three months, but more likely this poor level of care will have persisted for many months or even years."
Magistrates sentenced Packenham to a 16-week prison term suspended for 12 months. They also ordered him to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £500 court costs and a victim surcharge of £95. He was also banned for life from owning animals.
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