A CRUEL pet owner has been jailed after RSPCA inspectors discovered her
house of horrors littered with dead and decomposing animals.
Animal welfare inspectors were horrified when they made the grisly find at
Tracey Tindall’s Bradford home in November last year.
Among the dead and dying animals was a bullmastiff, whose rotting body was
still chained to its kennel.
Inspectors also found dead rabbits, a black cat, a border collie and two of
its puppies, two more cats which had to later be put down and a lifeless
bearded dragon.
Bradford magistrates court heard that when Inspectors Evans and Weston had
surveyed the property they were met by Tindall who was returning to the
property from the doctors.
She explained how she had been living with her mother who was suffering from
dementia in a different property, but had been regularly returning to tend
the animals.
Further inspection uncovered a scene of filth with animals faeces and rubbish
strewn across the home and garden.
Prosecuting for the RSPCA, Mr Andrew Davidson said: “When the inspectors
went into the living room, the floor was covered in faeces. There was no
water present for the animals.
“When they went into the dining room, under the table was the body of a
black cat which appeared to have recently died.
“In a cage they found a bearded dragon which appeared to be lifeless and
had no light or water.
“In the dining area, the inspectors saw four puppy training crates. The
right hand crate had the decomposing bodies of two puppies.
“Miss Tindall said the puppies had been in the crates for a couple of
weeks to stop they chewing or wrecking the place.
“In the left hand crate there was the carcass of an adult collie.”
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Many of the surviving animals were found to be in a horrific state when they
were rushed to the vets, with many rated as one out of five on a body
condition index.
Tindall, 46, confirmed she had been solely responsible for the animals and
that they had not been looked after as “she would have liked”.
Mr Davidson added: “Miss Tindall said she was feeding them when she could
but the money she received didn’t go far.
“She explained she had no gas or electricity for a month and that she
couldn’t clean up because she didn’t have cleaning products or hot water.
“These animals suffered for a long time because of the deprivation of
food and the conditions they were kept in.
“There were far too many animals to be looked after in a property of this
size.”
As Tindall sobbed in the court, Ms Sara Lyle, mitigating, admitted her client
was drinking heavily and was in a depressive state as a result of looking
after her mother, who sadly passed away two days after the RSPCA found her
animals.
Ms Lyle added: “There is not a word to describe how remorseful Miss
Tindall feels.”
She was handed an 18-week sentence following the neglect which magistrates
chair Beryl Eakin described as “very harrowing”.
Tindall, who pleaded guilty to 11 charges of failing to meet animal needs and
nine of causing unnecessary suffering, was also disqualified from keeping
animals for 20 years and an order was made to seize the two cats and five
kittens still in her possession.