Couple banned from keeping animals for life after investigators find neglected cats and dogs living in squalid conditions

A couple have been banned from keeping animals for life after the police and RSPCA found neglected cats and dogs living in squalid conditions inside their home.

James McWilliams, 46, and Vicki McWilliams, 42, were arrested after officers visited their home in Middleham in June last year.

Louise Freeman, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said the neglect involved five animals and constituted a wilful failure to meet even their basic welfare needs.

The defendants, of Park Lane, appeared for sentence on Tuesday, April 14, after they each admitted five counts of animal neglect in that they failed to meet the needs of two dogs and three cats to prevent pain, suffering, injury or disease.

They each admitted failing to provide their pets with adequate living conditions which were “extremely unhygienic and unfit for habitation” and contaminated by faecal matter.

The animals’ bedding was “urine-soaked” and there was an insufficient supply of food and water.

Police turned up at their home on June 8 last year and found the animals living in “extreme squalor, with extensive animal faeces throughout the property”.

Ms Freeman said there was an overwhelming odour around the house which had heavily contaminated furniture.

Officers found one of the dogs, a nine-month-old Bichon Frise called Cloud, confined to a crate heavily contaminated with faeces and with no bedding.

The dog was clearly distressed, the court heard.

Cloud was severely underweight, had matted and contaminated fur, a flea infestation and dental disease due in part to an “inadequate supply of clean, fresh drinking water”.

An RSPCA officer also found two flea-ridden British Shorthair kittens called Bluebell and Lavender which were also highly distressed and whose food and water bowls were contaminated.

Bluebell was underweight and had fur-thinning and abdominal bloating. She had a “very nervous” demeanour.

Both kittens had been living in “severely compromised” conditions and both showed signs of flea infestation and skin disease.

A veterinary surgeon examined the animals and found that Cloud’s coat was severely matted and urine-soaked and there were clear signs of “parasitic distress”, bloating and gingivitis caused by a build-up of bacteria. Her demeanour was described as “subdued” and she was suffering from dehydration.

Ms Freeman said that Cloud had been in an “unsatisfactory environment to remain clean or properly exercise” due to “confinement and deprivation” during “ongoing neglect”.

A three-legged cat called Winter had an unkempt, urine-soaked coat, chronic skin disease, severe dermatitis, alopecia, flea infestation and was suffering from dehydration.

“She was trembling, withdrawn and in constant pain and distress,” said Ms Freeman.

She was malnourished and suffering from chronic inflammation and had “ongoing, untreated disease” resulting in skin thickening and fur loss. Winter had since been taken in by a family member at a separate address.

Another dog called Riot had also been removed from the McWilliams home and taken in by the same family member due to animal-welfare concerns but wasn’t showing any signs of suffering.

Ms Freeman said that James McWilliams had since taken Riot back into the couple’s home, allegedly “without the consent” of that family member.

When quizzed by officers, the couple admitted they were aware of the animals’ deteriorating health conditions and that they were suffering, particularly Cloud.

Vicki McWilliams said that Cloud was kept in a crate for six-to-eight hours at a time and admitted that the dog was “suffering and distressed”.

James McWilliams said he had “let his head go” at the time and attributed the state of the house to a “short-term issue”.

He claimed that the animals had received veterinary care, but when asked to name the veterinary practice in question, he could not.

Ms Freeman said there was a “clear absence of food (and) empty bowls” around the house which was found in “entrenched squalor” by police and RSPCA officers.

The squalid conditions in which the animals were living had resulted in “significant pain, ongoing deterioration and psychological harm”.

Ms Freeman called on magistrates to impose a ban on the couple keeping any animals due to their “unwillingness to meet even basic welfare standards” for their pets.

She asked for any such order to include the couple’s horses which she alleged had also been kept in unsatisfactory conditions.

“On inspection of the horses, they were found to be confined to stables with extensive wet droppings in inadequate bedding,” said Ms Freeman.

She alleged that other provisions for the equines were “dirty and poorly maintained” which was “consistent with prolonged neglect of basic husbandry”.

She said there was evidence of an elderly horse having “chronic conditions”, although the couple had not been charged with any neglect offences in relation to the horses.

The defendants opted to represent themselves in court.

Vicki McWilliams said: “We messed up, we know we did. We’ve had animals for years (and) never had any problems. We used to foster Romanian dogs for a charity.”

She claimed she had moved the horses onto someone else’s land and that she had kept equines for 30 years.

James McWilliams said he had worked with animals, including racehorses, “for the best part of 40 years”, and that he had once trained a £3 million racehorse.

The couple were banned from keeping any animals for life and magistrates made a deprivation order in respect of Winter the cat and Riot the dog to formally remove them from the couple’s control.

James McWilliams was fined £666 and ordered to pay £200 costs, along with a statutory surcharge of £266.

Vicki McWilliams was fined £269 and ordered to pay £200 costs, along with a statutory surcharge of £108.

The couple will have to wait 10 years before they can apply for termination of the lifetime banning order