LONDON (Reuters) - A woman who kept 271 pets in her home in appalling conditions, with many emaciated and covered in faeces, was jailed for animal cruelty on Friday.
Animal welfare inspectors found Rosalind Gregson with 246 dogs -- mainly Yorkshire terriers -- 16 birds, including a macaw and Amazon parrots, five cats, two kittens, a rabbit and a chinchilla when they gained entry to her home in 2003.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said its officers suffered breathing difficulties when they entered her house in northern England which stank of waste and urine while the windows were caked in excrement.
The dogs were crammed into cages which were stacked on top of each other. Most animals had no access to fresh water and no food was seen in any of the cages with pets inside.
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Nine animals had to be destroyed but the others have all since been rehomed.
"It is dreadful that so many animals had to suffer in this case because of serious ongoing neglect," said RSPCA chief superintendent Phil Wilson.
Gregson, 55, admitted nine charges of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs and was jailed for three months by Preston Magistrates Court and banned from keeping pets again.
Her lawyer Ann-Marie Gregory said her client had not intended to inflict "wanton malicious cruelty" but that the case had come about because of sadness and isolation.
