A man and a woman from Chesterfield have been banned from keeping animals for 10 years after they were found guilty of charges under the Animal Welfare Act.
It’s after an investigation carried out by the RSPCA, with support of officers from our rural crime team, found the pair had kept horses and cats in poor conditions at paddocks in Unstone.
During a search of the land where the animals were kept in July 2019 RSPCA and rural crime team officers discovered more than 30 cats locked in a caravan, a shed and two lorries in unhealthy conditions.
More than 20 horses at the same site were also were found emaciated, infested with lice and with overgrown and deformed hooves.
Judy Shaw and Peter Hardy, of Dorset Close in Brimington, were sentenced on Tuesday 18 May following a trial at Chesterfield Justice Centre.
Forty-eight-year-old Judy Shaw was found guilty of 10 charges, and 58-year-old Peter Hardy was found guilty of 11 charges.
As well as being banned from keeping animals for 10 years, the pair were fined and put under a 24-week 7pm-7am curfew.
Both were given a 12-month community order and Mr Hardy was ordered to undertake 120 hours’ unpaid work.
Inspector Jo Meakin, who oversees Derbyshire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Team, said: “We take concerns about animal welfare and wildlife crime very seriously, and will always work in partnership with numerous agencies to tackle rural, wildlife, heritage and equine related offences and to take positive action when necessary”
For more information and advice on rural and wildlife crime visit our website, https://www.derbyshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rc/rural-crime/.
You can also follow the work of the Derbyshire Rural Crime Team on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ruralcrimeteam/ or on Twitter, @DerbyshireRCT.
