A vegan who failed to deal with a mouse infestation at her mid-terrace home, claiming that taking action would go against her ethical beliefs, has been fined by a court. Tendring District Council said 73-year-old Margaret Manzoni, of Clacton Road, St Osyth in Essex, “considered the mice her pets and “said they would not go to her neighbours because she looked after them”.
The authority prosecuted the pensioner for a second time after she did not comply with a previous order made in April. At a hearing at Colchester Magistrates’ Court this month, Manzoni was told that while the court “respected her beliefs as an ethical vegan, others saw mice as vermin”, the council said.
The court said that the “impact of the infestation on neighbours meant inaction was not appropriate”, according to the authority. Manzoni admitted at the hearing on October 6 to charges of failing to comply with a notice under the Environmental Protection Act and a notice under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act.
