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Animals confiscated from 100-pet family
A family which had more than 100 pets including a pot-bellied pig, lizards and rats have escaped jail terms.
The Legge family kept a vast number of creatures in crowded and filthy conditions at their home in Chatham, Kent, a court heard.
They pleaded guilty before Medway Magistrates in Chatham earlier this month to various counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals by failing to provide proper care and attention.
Sentencing the family, District Judge Howard Riddle said: "Because I have been persuaded that the cruelty was not deliberate, I will not make a custodial sentence."
"It is very hard to understand why anyone who loves animals should keep them in these circumstances. In my view, it is clear what this family needed was robust advice."
Douglas Legge, 52, who pleaded guilty to two counts, and his wife Susan, 48, who admitted nine counts, were each given 80 hours of community service, ordered to pay £3,000 compensation to the RSPCA and disqualified from owning animals for five years.
Daughter Kelly, 22, who pleaded guilty to nine counts, was given 40 hours of community service, disqualified from keeping animals for two years and ordered to pay the RSPCA £3,000.
Their younger daughter Stacey, 18, who pleaded guilty to three counts but was a minor at the time, was given a 12-month conditional discharge, disqualified from keeping animals for two years and ordered to pay the RSPCA £1,500 in compensation.
Inside they found 12 dogs, 15 cats, 11 rats, 23 spiny mice, plus a host of more unusual and exotic creatures including tortoises, tarantulas, a young salamander, a chinchilla, piranha fish and 10 degus - a type of large rodent, said prosecutor Rex Bryan, for the RSPCA. There were animals in all but one of the rooms, including the cellar which was home to a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig.
A vet found some of the animals were underweight and had treatable conditions such as infestations of fleas and mites. However, he deemed the living conditions so unsuitable, they were taken away by the RSPCA.
Story filed: 17:25 Friday 21st December 2001
A family which had more than 100 pets including a pot-bellied pig, lizards and rats have escaped jail terms.
The Legge family kept a vast number of creatures in crowded and filthy conditions at their home in Chatham, Kent, a court heard.
They pleaded guilty before Medway Magistrates in Chatham earlier this month to various counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals by failing to provide proper care and attention.
Sentencing the family, District Judge Howard Riddle said: "Because I have been persuaded that the cruelty was not deliberate, I will not make a custodial sentence."
"It is very hard to understand why anyone who loves animals should keep them in these circumstances. In my view, it is clear what this family needed was robust advice."
Douglas Legge, 52, who pleaded guilty to two counts, and his wife Susan, 48, who admitted nine counts, were each given 80 hours of community service, ordered to pay £3,000 compensation to the RSPCA and disqualified from owning animals for five years.
Daughter Kelly, 22, who pleaded guilty to nine counts, was given 40 hours of community service, disqualified from keeping animals for two years and ordered to pay the RSPCA £3,000.
Their younger daughter Stacey, 18, who pleaded guilty to three counts but was a minor at the time, was given a 12-month conditional discharge, disqualified from keeping animals for two years and ordered to pay the RSPCA £1,500 in compensation.
Inside they found 12 dogs, 15 cats, 11 rats, 23 spiny mice, plus a host of more unusual and exotic creatures including tortoises, tarantulas, a young salamander, a chinchilla, piranha fish and 10 degus - a type of large rodent, said prosecutor Rex Bryan, for the RSPCA. There were animals in all but one of the rooms, including the cellar which was home to a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig.
A vet found some of the animals were underweight and had treatable conditions such as infestations of fleas and mites. However, he deemed the living conditions so unsuitable, they were taken away by the RSPCA.
Story filed: 17:25 Friday 21st December 2001
