9 March 2010

A farmer in Cumbria has admitted keeping dozens of pet dogs in filthy conditions, the Carlisle News & Star has reported.

Joseph Clarence Horn will be sentenced tomorrow after pleading guilty to failing to meet the welfare needs of the animals, the local paper said.

Last June, an animal welfare inspector found 67 dogs living in filthy conditions on Mr Horn's farm. Some of the pets were tethered to their kennels and some were left in cages inside a barn that had poor access to natural light.

Concerns had been raised by an environmental health officer at Eden council so an RSPCA inspector went to investigate.

According to the paper, the inspector could not get down one corridor in the barn because the dog mess on the floor would have "spilled over the top of her boots".

Some of the cages in which the pets had been left had three inches of filth at the bottom and many of the dogs' drinking bowls were overturned which prevented them from having clean drinking water.

The defence solicitor said the farm was initially run for stud dogs but Mr Horn had taken on many of the animals after the introduction of the hunting ban as their previous owners wanted to get rid of them, the paper reported.

The district judge will tomorrow decide whether to ban Mr Horn from keeping dogs in the future.