Animal ban for Colnbrook woman who kept dogs in filthy conditions

A mother-of-four has been banned from owning animals and fined by magistrates after admitting failing to adequately care for four dogs.

Kelly Davis had the dogs, a red female Lurcher called Bella, a white and black speckled male Lurcher called Danny Zuko, a female Spaniel called Sally and a Golden Labrador puppy called Libby, living in filthy conditions including faeces covered rags and blankets.

The council was informed the dogs, some of which were also chained up, were constantly barking and whining and were locked in an outdoor wooden kennel.

Officers obtained a warrant and attended her home in Moreland Avenue, Colnbrook, in August 2018, and took the dogs into the council’s care just a few weeks later.

Davis, 38, appeared at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Friday October 30 and admitted three separate offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 of failing in her duty of care.

District Judge Davinder Lachhar said: “You have four children all under 18 years of age and also had four dogs, means you had too many things to deal with.

“You admit to buying all these dogs within a matter of weeks prior to council’s intervention and therefore you needed to care for them.

“You have pleaded guilty to keeping them below a standard of care and these dogs were reliant on you for their care.

“In addition, there is a history of complaints involving other animals and you have received advice and guidance in the past from the council regarding what you needed to do to meet the required standards of care.”

The council’s resilience and enforcement team had previously worked with the defendant on four separate occasions with other dogs and ferrets that were in her care which were removed after warrants were obtained.

Davis was fined a total of £300 and ordered to pay £280 costs.

She was disqualified from keeping animals, apart from fish, for two years.

Linda Corcoran, Resilience and Enforcement Team Leader for Place and Development, said: “We’ve tried to engage and educate Kelly Davis over the years, with improvement notices being served under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and then we received more complaints in August 2018.

“We executed an entry warrant and discovered four dogs within the rear garden and after investigation it was found Kelly Davis was responsible for them. There was evidence that she had failed to meet the needs of the animals.

“Slough Borough Council was awarded possession in October 2018 and all four dogs were checked over by a vet and have been successfully rehomed.”