Dying or dead animals were found around the sanctuary run by 27-year-old Lindsay Newell in Etwall, Derbyshire, while others were sick or malnourished and emaciated.
The veterinary nurse devoted all her spare time and money to the centre, but ‘took her eye off the ball’ and the animals suffered as a result, Stafford Magistrates’ Court heard.
One of them, a pig named ‘Babe’, who was featured in MailOnline in March 2012 after being saved from a squalid council house, died as RSPCA officers raided the centre following a tip-off.
A trial was told Newell’s claims that she ‘didn’t notice anything wrong’ were simply ‘incredible’.
Yesterday at Burton-upon-Trent Magistrates’ Court, she was banned from keeping animals after being found guilty of six counts of cruelty and handed a two-year conditional discharge.
But she was cleared of a further 25 charges that she failed to feed the animals properly after the judge decided she had done her best to feed the animals in her care.
Today the RSPCA, which itself took sick and injured animals to the centre, was left counting the £20,000 cost of a prosecution against a woman a judge admitted had only ‘a desire to help.’
Newell told the court her salary went towards running the sanctuary - which cost £2,000 in rent a year - and up to £400 a week on straw and animal food. But the prosecution painted a very different picture, accusing her of causing unnecessary suffering by not giving the animals enough food and failing to seek veterinary help for them.
Police and RSPCA officers raided the centre in November 2012 after members of the public raised concerns. Among the animals was ‘Babe’ the pig, who was lying in muddy water in a paddock ‘seriously undernourished’. The Gloucestershire old spot pig had been rescued from a council house in Derby in March 2012.
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| Babe, seen the first time he was rescued. He may have been better off there. After all, at least he was fed regularly. |
Video footage of the dying animal’s final moments was among the evidence shown at Stafford Magistrates’ Court during the five-day trial.
Dingleby Clark, prosecuting, said the pig was one of a large number of animals found to be suffering.
He said: ‘This pig was being looked after by the defendant, but for some reason she did not give the required care to this pig and it died.’
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| Babe was given to Newell who proceeded to starve him to death. |
Newell was accused of causing suffering to turkeys, cockerels, sheep, a Canada goose, horses, ponies and piglets.
Mr Clark added: ‘She had too many animals and too few staff. She had too many different species.’
He said that at some point in 2012, Newell started a new job and moved away after which she ‘had completely taken her eye off the ball’. The centre was ‘out of control’, with animals suffering and dying, he said. Inspectors also found the carcass of a lamb, which had starved to death, in a field.
Sarah Levy volunteered at the centre for six months until around June 2012. When she left she wrote a letter to the RSPCA expressing her concerns about the standard of care for the animals. RSPCA deputy chief inspector Jayne Bashford said there was very little grazing area for the animals and distinctly remembered no water being available. She ran her hands over animals and could feel their spines and ribs.
Newell refused to comment in police interviews. She replied with ‘no comment’ to all questions during a 44-minute interview in December 2012. She told the court had been ‘intimidated’ and ‘shocked’ when the centre was raided.
Nigel Weller, defending, said his client now wanted to dedicate her life to running the sanctuary.
The RSPCA said it cost £20,000 to investigate the case and bring Newell to court, of which she will have to pay just £2,000.
District Judge David Taylor found her guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a pig, a pony, a goat and sheep. He gave Newell a two-year conditional discharge and disqualified her from keeping sheep, goats, pigs and equine animals for five years.
Passing sentence, he said: ‘These were not deliberate or intentional acts. They were a consequence of you trying to do too much. Your attempts to help the animals caused you to get into this mess.’
[Brilliant. He calls the suffering and horrific deaths of these animals as "this mess". She didn't do it b/c she loved animals. She did this b/c she enjoyed the attention she received from people constantly telling her how great she was for saving these animals. People would proclaim, "You're an angel. I don't know how you do it." and that fed her ego. She didn't care about the animals. It was all about HER.]
(Daily Mail - May 13, 2014)
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