CATS SAVED FROM ‘LIVING IN DIRT’
A PET owner has been banned from keeping animals for three years after he was found to have 24 cats “living in dirt” in his property.
Timothy Worel was accused of not ensuring the needs of his cats were met at an address in Wellington Terrace, Brithdir, by failing to provide them with a suitable environment.
The 47 year old, of Andrew Terrace, Llanhilleth, Abertillery, pleaded guilty at Newport Magistrates’ Court on the second day of a trial.
A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said they had tried to offer support and advice.
RSPCA inspector, Izzi Hignell, said: “This is a person who had received advice on this for many months from the RSPCA, Cats Protection and other charities, but failed to make any changes.
“The environment these cats were living in was unbelievable.
“The amount of rubbish and faeces there was just awful.
“It was absolute chaos. “The smell was horrific and it was disappointing that help and advice was not followed so these cats were just living in dirt.”
The 24 cats were removed from the property by the Cats Protection Gwent branch and were taken into its care.
The team has since worked to rehome the cats.
Inspector Hignell added: “We’d very much like to thank Cats Protection Gwent branch for all their work on this case, for removing all the cats from the property and caring for them. It is just so sad to think these cats were living in such an awful environment.”
Worel was banned from keeping any animals for three years and was ordered to pay costs of £1,200.
It was also ordered that any cats at Worel’s new address would be signed over to the RSPCA.