Animals kept in small, stinking room

A Taranaki woman has pleaded guilty to animal welfare charges over the neglect of up 36 animals in her care.

When SPCA inspectors searched Jennifer Maria Green's house in Okaiawa, south Taranaki, they found diseased cats and dying spaniels living in their own urine and faeces in a small dark room, the Taranaki Daily News reported.

Green, 53, a caregiver, pleaded guilty in Hawera District Court yesterday to two charges laid under the Animal Welfare Act, of failing to care for 21 cats, and failing to ensure that 15 cocker and cavalier King Charles spaniel dogs received treatment to alleviate their suffering.

She was convicted and remanded for a restorative justice meeting with the SPCA, before being sentenced in New Plymouth District Court on July 20.

- NZPA