Two dogs and eight cats to be rehomed by RSPCA following neglect and suffering

Two neglected dogs and eight cats can now be rehomed following the conclusion of a court case - which has seen their owner sent to prison and banned from keeping animals for life.

They were all taken into RSPCA care back in August 2023 after they were removed from a Swansea property which had faeces all over the floorboards and smelt extremely strong of cat urine. Many of the animals were severely underweight and some had health issues such as flea infestations.

All the animals - eight cats and two dogs - have recovered and two dogs were placed in foster care.

Their owner, Daniel Mark Janes (d.o.b 07/05/1992) of Llanllienwen Close, Ynysforgan, failed to attend court and a warrant was issued by the court for his arrest. He pleaded guilty to five offences under the Animal Welfare Act and was sentenced on Thursday 29 August at Swansea Magistrate Court.

The offences were that he caused unnecessary suffering to a Staffordshire bull terrier type male dog called Rocky and a collie lurcher type female dog called Brandy by failing to investigate and address the causes of their poor bodily condition and weight loss and he also caused suffering by failing to provide the necessary veterinary care and attention for their skin condition.

He also caused unnecessary suffering to eight cats - known as Dot, Dora, Snickers, Caesar, Bela, Narla, Rose and Gizmo - by failing to provide an adequate supply of fresh drinking water resulting in their dehydration. In addition, he caused unnecessary suffering to a cat called White Lilly by failing to investigate and address the causes of her poor bodily condition and weight loss. 

Finally, he failed to ensure the needs of Rocky, Brandy and 10 cats (which included the eight in the third offence) along with White Lilly and Narla were met to the extent required by good practice in that you failed to meet their needs (full wording below).

The court heard in mitigation that he loved animals and people "dumped" animals on him. At the sentencing hearing, for the first offence, he was handed 26 weeks of custody with immediate effect. 

For the second offence he was also handed 26 weeks of custody which will run concurrently, and another 26 weeks of custody was handed to Janes to run concurrently for the third offence. For the final section four offence he was handed another 26 weeks custody to run concurrently.

For the offence which involved all the animals in this case he was handed 20 weeks of custody to run concurrently. For failing to surrender to bail back on 24 June - he was handed four weeks of custody which will run concurrent. 

Janes was disqualified from keeping all animals for life, with the time to contest set as 10 years. Orders were also imposed for any animals to be transferred across to the RSPCA.

The court heard that the RSPCA had several dealings with Janes and had made appointments with him so they could check on the animals' welfare and the environment, but it was noted that fixed appointments had been cancelled at the last minute on many occasions or the officers arrived to no reply at the address. 

On 7 April 2023, RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer Ellie West and RSPCA Inspector Holly Brown attended the Ynysforgan property, and in a witness statement provided to the court, ARO West said that on this occasion they were given access to the property. 

An animal welfare assessment form was issued for Janes to take action upon, which included cleaning the flat, good nutritional diet, taking dog Rocky to the vet for flea treatment and household flea treatment and treating the flat for fleas. 

Janes agreed to sign four female ferrets over to the RSPCA. Six cats were also treated for fleas, wormed, neutered and ID chipped by the RSPCA in April. 

On 30 April ARO West returned to the property and she was told that he was caring for four cats for a friend, and there was a male cat shut in his bedroom. Further advice was given and Janes was told that a vet appointment for Rocky had been made for 11 May 2023 - however, this wasn't attended.

A visit was made on 18 May and Janes was still not willing to sign any animals over to the RSPCA and another animal welfare assessment form was issued. Further dealings and numerous calls were carried out in July - however, many of these had no reply.

In a statement provided to the court by RSPCA Inspector Gemma Cooper, she said it was on 25 August when she received a call that stated that two cats had been presented to a vet earlier that week in an emaciated body condition, crawling in fleas and that one had died (White Lilly) and the other had to be put to sleep on welfare grounds (Arlo).

She attended the property and when there was no answer she looked through the letterbox; "I could see the hip bones of all three animals and the cat was unsteady on her feet as she walked towards the front door. I could also see that the cat had fur loss over her head and ears, her skin appeared red and that one of the dogs was also suffering from fur loss throughout her torso. 

"There was a litter tray in the hallway and faeces all over the floorboards. The property smelt extremely strong of cat urine."

Inspector Cooper then called the police for assistance and as she waited outside she saw Janes with two dogs - Rocky and Brandy. 

She said Rocky’s ribs and spine were visible and his waist was tucked in and for Brandy; "Although her long fur did a good job of hiding how underweight she was, when I put my hands on her I could feel all her ribs and vertebrae". She added that her hip bones were visible and her skin was red and scabby.

When she was given access inside she said: "As soon as the front door opened a foul smell of ammonia hit me. I noticed that the faeces on the floorboards in the hallway had been picked up but faeces remnants remained and the floorboards were soaked in what smelt like cat urine. 

"The litter trays that had been provided were full and when I asked if he had any cat food or cat litter in the house he said he hadn’t but he was just going to the shop to get some. There was a large opened sack of dog food in the flat. There was a blue dog bowl on the floor in the living room with a few pieces of kibble inside and a large plastic bucket of water. There were no cat bowls with food or water inside the flat."

Eight cats along with Rocky and Brandy were removed by the RSPCA and were seized by police. The ten animals were boarded at RSPCA Merthyr Tydfil Veterinary Clinic where Inspector Cooper said: "Seven out of the eight cats ate ravenously, some even growling whilst eating."

A vet statement, provided to the court by the vet who examined the eight cats after they were removed on 25 August, said that they were all underweight and had fleas.

A further vet statement by another vet who examined Rocky and Brandy on 25 August said: "The first thing I noticed about the dogs was that they were both smelly.  They smelt very badly of both cat urine and ferret. 

"Rocky was microchipped and weighed 21.1 kilograms. He was thin with a body score of 2.5 out of nine - where five is normal, nine is obese and one is emaciated. He had fleas and his skin was slightly erythematous as were his interdigital spaces.

"Brandy was microchipped and weighed 13.5 kilograms. She was also underweight with a body score of two out of nine. She too had a heavy flea burden and flea allergy dermatitis and her fur was very thin."

RSPCA Inspector Cooper said: "This is certainly a case where we tried everything we could to educate and help the owner of these animals to improve their welfare, but sadly the situation did not improve and tragically two cats died. Following the court order, we are now very pleased to be able to finally find forever homes for the animals involved in this case."

All the cats have been cared for by an RSPCA branch and Rocky and Brandy were also fostered. They will now be rehomed.