A woman was banned from keeping animals for life after letting a cat starve to death on a filthy Wallsend property

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A woman has been banned from keeping animals for the rest of her life after she let her cat starve to death.

Deborah Ferry’s three-year-old tortoiseshell cat Megan was found dead in the living room of the property in send to the wall, north tyneside. The 49-year-old woman had moved away and did not feed her again for four days.

The severely decomposed remains of another cat were also discovered behind a toilet panel inside the address on Tynemouth Road.

Read more: Thinnest dog RSPCA rescuer had ever seen begins recovery at County Durham shelter

North Tyneside Magistrates Court I heard how RSPCA Inspector Kirsty Keogh-Laws visited the property on August 25 last year out of concern for the welfare of a cat that lives there.

As there was no answer in the house, he looked in the mailbox and noticed a strong smell, the presence of flies and garbage scattered on the floor.

The path to the rear of the property was also littered with clutter and he could see that the kitchen looked dirty and dangerous.

Although no cat was seen or heard, the inspector stuffed food into the letterbox and sealed the front and rear doors with tape, leaving a card for the occupant to call the RSPCA urgently.

Inquiries were made locally and he was given the number of a potential owner, Deborah Ferry. When she called the number, the mobile was answered by a man who said she did not know the defendant or anyone in Wallsend.

The next day, the officer returned to the house. The tapes on both doors were still intact and a tortoiseshell cat could now be seen sitting on top of a shopping cart in the living room.

Cat food and ice cubes were placed in the mailbox and another note was left asking the occupant to contact the RSPCA.

The property was monitored daily and food and water were posted via the letterbox. The tapes remained sealed and on 29 August RSPCA Inspector Rowena Proctor called the police inside.

She told the court: “The smell through the letterbox was terrible and there were a lot of flies buzzing in the window. Once the door was opened, the smell was much worse than expected. The flies seemed to be everywhere, hundreds of them.”

“To the left of the front door was an old inner cage base from a guinea pig cage, used as a litter pan. It was very dirty with numerous piles of feces.

“The top of the kitchen was completely covered in dirty dishes. The kitchen bench was dirty and had empty cat food cans, a very battered milk bowl that had flies stuck to the solidified top, and two bowls of food for pets with some old, dry food.

“The rooms were just as messy and dirty as the rest of the property, again with bare floorboards and walls, cat feces, general dirt, food wrappers and stained mattresses.

“Walking into the bathroom, I felt like I was surrounded by flies. Hundreds of them were there and the dirty toilet had at least 20 flies floating around.”

The inspector described how she noticed a “cat-sized” hole in the side of the bathtub and removed the panel to find a black and white cat that had been dead for some time. The animal’s pelvic bones were visible, and no eyeballs remained on the head.

She said: “Thousands of live fleas clung to me once the panel was removed.

“I’ve dealt with many flea-infested animals, but I’ve never seen fleas to such an extent. My pants seemed to move because they covered me almost completely.

“When leaving the property, the police officers and I had to spray each other with a household flea spray that I kept in my truck.”

Inspector Proctor found Megan dead on the floor next to the shopping cart in the living room. She weighed only 1.85 kg (4.1 lbs) when she was discovered.

An autopsy was carried out by the University of Liverpool’s pathology department and the findings showed that Megan had a portosystemic shunt that was affecting her liver function and food metabolism.

Growth retardation, poor appetite, and neurological signs would have occurred, so his owner should have sought veterinary attention.

Nor had Ferry sought veterinary help for Megan’s chronic flea infestation, which had caused her to suffer from inflamed skin and hair loss for several weeks.

Police investigations were held and Ferry was arrested at an address in Wallsend later that day.

During his interview, Ferry described the living conditions as a “shit hole” and said it had been like this for two to three months.

She said she was disgusted with herself and confirmed that she had neglected the cats but could not afford gas or electricity at the property and was staying with her partner.

Megan’s prolonged and untreated skin disease had also caused distress and abnormal excessive grooming behavior, including hair swallowing, although this could also have been brought on by starvation.

The report says that Megan died of starvation, in combination with her liver bypass.

Ferry, of Matfen Gardens, Howdon, pleaded guilty to three animal welfare offenses in northern shields May 5

A vet told the court how Megan had starved and that this had been compounded by an undiagnosed liver condition for which her owner had not sought treatment.

They said her skeleton was prominent and she suffered from a “severe flea infestation with live adult fleas and a large crust of flea feces.”

Ferry was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months and forbidden to have any animal for the rest of your life. He was ordered to pay costs of £600 and a victim surcharge of £154.

After the court case, Inspector Proctor said: “This was an extremely disturbing case to investigate. The conditions inside the house were appalling and the number of flies and fleas was on a scale I had not seen before.”

“No animal should be put in a position where they are left to fend for themselves.

“If people are having difficulties, we urge them to contact animal welfare charities for assistance and help with rehoming, rather than leaving their pets to suffer and die alone like poor Megan did.

“The RSPCA has a cost of living center offering advice on what homeowners can do if they find themselves in difficult times.

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