Animal ban for couple who kept 29 pets in flat
RSPCAA couple who kept 29 pets in a flat have been banned from keeping animals for eight years.
Exeter Magistrates' Court heard Mark West, 39, and Rebecca Sowden, 33, had kept 14 snakes, 12 cats, a tortoise, a bearded dragon and a leopard gecko in a one-bedroom flat in Taunton Close, Exeter.
The court was told the couple had been given advice 19 times by the RSPCA, social services, police and council officials about the state of the home and pets.
The pair admitted two charges of failing to ensure welfare for the animals in their care.
The court heard Sowden had studied animal care at college and West was a fast food delivery driver.
'Conditions were squalid'
The animals were not fed, watered or exercised enough and had to live in the faeces-covered flat with not enough living space or heating, the court heard.
District Judge Stuart Smith said: "The flat was not fit for humans or animals alike but they were forced to endure those conditions."
The prosecution told the court the animals had all been signed over.
RSPCA inspector Miranda Albinson, who investigated the case, said: "The conditions within the property were squalid."
She added: "These animals were badly neglected and were confined within a space that severely compromised their health and welfare."
Judge Smith sentenced both Sowden and West to 12-month community orders with unpaid work, ordered them to pay costs of £514 each and banned them from keeping any animals for eight years.
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