A woman who left two cats alone at her Plean home for over a week – among faeces and piles of rubbish – has been banned from keeping animals for three years.
Iona Baff, who admitted an offence under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, was also placed on supervision for a year.
The charge stated that the 45-year-old had failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that the needs of the animals were met and they had not been protected from suffering or injury.
It added that Baff had failed to provide the cats with a suitable environment, free from animal urine and faeces and household waste, as well as a suitable diet between May 10 and 18, 2021.
Fiscal depute Danielle McDonald told Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday that a complaint of cat abandonment had been made via the Scottish SPCA helpline. According to the complainer no-one had been at the property for a number of days.
A Scottish SSPCA inspector attended at the Wallace Crescent address on May 13 at 1.15pm and the following day at 5.25pm. On both occasions there was no answer.
The inspector reattended on the mornings of May 15 and 16 and put food through the letterbox for the cats who were seen, through the letterbox, “desperately attempting to eat food”.
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Entry was gained on May 18 around 1pm, Ms McDonald added, and the property was found to be in a poor state.
The fiscal depute said: “Entry to the kitchen was impossible due to household items and rubbish piled high on the floor and work surfaces.”
Cat faeces were found around the house and there was a fly infestation.
Two black cats were in the bathroom, Ms McDonald said, where there were cat faeces on the floor and a litter tray soaked with urine.
She added however that both cats “appeared to be in reasonable condition” and secured for transportation. Attempts to contact the accused at that time were unsuccessful.
Baff’s solicitor Virgil Crawford told Sheriff Charles Lugton that Baff had been in a long-standing relationship which had come to an end at the time of the offence. There had been a number of issues, he added, and the accused had been staying elsewhere at the time. However, she had since got her life “back together”.
Mr Crawford pointed out that Baff was a first offender and had no intention of keeping animals in the near future.
Sheriff Lugton told Baff that he regarded the matter as an isolated incident and sentenced her to a year’s supervision with a review on March 1. She was also disqualified from keeping animals for three years.
The Scottish SPCA has since re-housed the cats.
Scottish SPCA inspector Mairi Wright said this week: “We are pleased that Iona Baff has been given a three-year ban on owning or keeping animals.
“Her cats were left alone in an appalling living environment for prolonged periods of time.
“We hope that she seriously considers her ability to care for animals in the future.”
