Matted cats with urine stained paws rescued from filthy house covered in diarrhoea and rubbish

Eight abandoned cats were rescued from a filthy, house that was covered in diarrhoea, mouldy faeces and urine stains.

RSPCA rescuers were met with shocking scenes at a bungalow at Hirwaun in Wales after finding neglected cats with heavily matted hair and urine stained coats and paws.

One of the doors in the property was blocked by mouldy faeces piled up behind it.

Police seized the animals and placed them in the care of the RSPCA, Wales online reports.

RSPCA deputy chief inspector Emma Smith has been with the welfare charity 14 years. She told Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates' Court:

"The smell inside the bungalow was incredibly pungent from the minute you walked in. It was extremely unkempt inside the location with household items strewn everywhere, bags of rubbish piled up and grime and mess on the floors."

Two cats and an empty food bowl was found in the living room but there was water present. Two litter trays contained multiple lumps of faeces and there was some diarrhoea on the floor.

DCI Smith said the smell carried on into the bedroom.

"The overwhelming smell of urine and ammonia continued throughout the bungalow along with the grime and rubbish," she said.

She found a third cat in the bedroom which “appeared nervous” and ran off. This cat had access to a bathroom which contained a bowl of water and bowl with some dry cat food. There were also two litter trays present which contained multiple lumps of faeces.

DCI Smith said she then came to a closed door which said 'Please do not open door cats in here loose'. She was only able to open the door a third of the way.

She said: "I was able to squeeze through the gap and look behind the door and could see that the resistance was coming from piles and piles of mouldy faeces which had built up behind the door, stopping it from opening.

"The sight and smell in this room was the worst I have seen in 14 years of being an RSPCA Inspector and I had to keep taking breaks from the room to stop my eyes watering and my nose lining stinging.

“The room was caked in old and new faeces throughout. Urine stains were all over the floor along with rubbish and ground in old and stale food. There were piles of cat fur which were caked in faeces and knotted up and there was no clear part of the floor that was not smeared or caked in faeces.”

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She found water bowls but the contents were yellow where the cats had obviously urinated inside. There were a number of cat carriers in the room but again all of these were completely caked inside with faeces. There was no clean space and no suitable bedding.

All eight cats from within the bungalow were seized by police and were transferred to the RSPCA Merthyr Tydfil Veterinary Clinic.

Five of the cats were signed over by the owner - four of which have been rehomed. Now following the court case - the others will be made available for rehoming.

Jolene Collette Harris, 39, of Station Road, Cefn Coed, Merthyr Tydfil, was sentenced at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 8.

She pled guilty to four offences under the Animal Welfare Act at a previous hearing in April. She failed to ensure the needs of eight cats were met in terms of a suitable environment, failed to meet their need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury or disease and by failing to provide adequate or reasonable daily care and supervision in respect of their protection from harm.

She also failed to check for signs of ill health leading to untreated ear and dental disease in respect to one cat and also failed to ensure two other cat’s coats were maintained in an appropriate condition.

The court also was provided information in regards to previous dealings with the RSPCA which included advice and guidance on suitable living environments.

At sentencing she was handed a five year disqualification ban on all animals. She was also ordered to pay a £200 fine, £400 costs and a £80 victim surcharge.

An order was also made for three cats to be signed over to the RSPCA, and there was also an order relinquishing her ownership of one elderly female cat that had remained in her care.

In mitigation it was heard that she had no previous convictions, had personal difficulties and had genuine remorse.

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