Eleven dogs living in 'deplorable' conditions

A woman offering dog walking, behaviour and training services has been banned from keeping animals for 12 months after multiple dogs were found living in conditions described by an RSPCA Inspector as some of the worst she had ever seen.     

Some of the floors of the property at Bourne Street in Peterlee were not visible because of huge amounts of faeces and rubbish. Officers entering the property were nearly sick because of the smell of ammonia.

Two of the 11 dogs found inside the house were being boarded there while their owners were on holiday and others required urgent veterinary intervention for untreated wounds.    

Hannah Critchlow (DoB 19/05/1994) was handed the disqualification order after pleading guilty to one Animal Welfare Act offence at a hearing at Peterlee Magistrates Court on Thursday (2 April) following a prosecution by the RSPCA.

Magistrates were told that an Inspector from the charity, accompanied by the police, went to her house on 3 September last year, and 11 dogs were removed because of their squalid and unhygienic conditions. Critchlow had previously agreed with the police to give the RSPCA access to see the dogs on 18 August but failed to show up twice for scheduled appointments on that day. 

Further visits were made until Critchlow's van was seen outside the property in September. She allowed RSPCA Inspector Rowena Proctor and the police inside and the dogs were seized on animal welfare grounds.

In her written statement to the court, Inspector Proctor said: "Hannah permitted me to go into the property. I wore boot covers for entering. The conditions inside were deplorable and some of the worst I have ever seen in eight years with the RSPCA. 

"The living room was almost beyond description with floorboards not attached and sitting on top of several feet of dirt, faeces and mess, which all looked like it had been pushed to one side to create a walkway of some sort. 

"The stairs were littered with faeces which had been crushed into the carpets, presumably by the dogs and Hannah walking on it. The upstairs landing area had almost no visible floor as again, it was littered in faeces and this spread into the spare room. 

"Hannah's bedroom was unpleasant and extremely unclean but it appeared to be more urine than faeces. A fan was turned on in the room and the windows were shut. The ammonia in the air made me retch multiple times so I held my breath to quickly take the photos before getting back downstairs as quickly as I could, concerned that I was about to vomit from the thick smell in the air."

Further RSPCA officers arrived to help transport the dogs to a local veterinary practice. Seven of them were given a body condition score of 2 out of 9, on a scale where 1 is emaciated and 9 is obese. 

The vet who examined them said six of the group had clear signs of dermatitis with hair loss and reddening. One, a male collie called Swift, had multiple sores on his body and the pads of his feet and needed veterinary intervention. Another dog, a male lurcher called Jasper, also required treatment for multiple, contaminated wounds.

"After viewing the images of the living conditions they were found in, it is my opinion that they were unhygienic, dangerous and unsafe. This environment was not suitable for a dog to be kept in," said the vet in her written evidence. 

Seven of the dogs - a spaniel crossbreed, a shih tzu, a collie, a lurcher, a whippet and two malinois - belonged to Critchlow. Two others, both Romanian crossbreeds, were being home-boarded by her while their owners were on holiday. She was also fostering two dogs, a malinois and a collie, on behalf of an animal charity.  
During the investigation, the RSPCA was told the defendant ran a business called UpDog Walking, Training & Behaviour and also fostered dogs.  

The court was told that Critchlow was effectively living at the house at the time and had poor mental health. She had no previous convictions and had worked for ten years looking after dogs at private kennels before setting up her business and buying a van. 

Her solicitor said that if she was disqualified for any time she would go out of business and therefore a ban would be disproportionate to the offence. 

Critchlow, now of Birkett Terrace in Trimdon, was also fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £250 and an £80 victim surcharge.   

Speaking after the case Inspector Proctor said: "These dogs, some of whom had been placed in Critchlow's care, were living in the most appalling conditions that were wholly unsuitable for humans and animals. The house was unsafe and unhygienic because of the huge amount of faeces and rubbish that had piled up, in some places several feet deep. 

"On top of this, the dogs were in poor health, with two in particular requiring urgent veterinary treatment. I'd especially like to thank the police officers who assisted us with this case and were equally appalled by the conditions they saw inside."

Critchlow signed over all the dogs she owned, except one, during the course of the investigation. She agreed to return Casper, a spaniel crossbreed, to a charity she had rehomed him from. The Romanian crossbreeds were returned to their owners and a different charity took back the two dogs that Critchlow was fostering for them. 

Three-year-old Malinois Moose is the only dog still waiting to be adopted at the RSPCA's Felledge Animal Centre near Chester-le-Street. The friendly three-year-old dog loves attention and is also incredibly intelligent and always ready to learn new things. He is looking for an adult-only home, although older children might be considered, ideally with people who have experience with Malinois or similar breeds.