Man who left animals to die in squalor is spared jail

4:05am Saturday 25th August 2007

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By Lauren Pyrah »

A PET shop supplier who left hundreds of animals to die in filthy sheds as a "punishment" has been spared jail.

In a case which horrified experienced RSPCA inspectors, Alan Magraw, 58, fed dead rabbits to cats and left hundreds of animals to die and putrefy in filthy sheds at a North-East farm, Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.

In an interview with RSPCA inspectors, Magraw said he was punishing the animals "because of what others had done to him".

When the discovery was made in November last year, some of the emaciated and decaying animals were so badly decomposed, they no longer had internal organs.

Magraw also admitted killing rabbits by striking them on the back of the head, the court heard.

Kevin Campbell, prosecuting, said RSPCA inspector Garry Palmer had been contacted last year by the owners of Low Goosepool Farm, near Middleton St George, near Darlington, where Magraw leased sheds.

Insp Palmer found the decomposing carcasses of more than 260 rabbits and mice, some strewn across the floor and some in dirty cages containing up to five inches of excrement.

Mr Campbell said: "This is probably one of the worst cases of animal cruelty you are likely to come across on the Bench."

The court was shown a video of the scene which showed what looked like bundles of fur in rows and rows of foul cages. Some of the rabbit carcasses' claws were found to be an inch long. Ten cats were rescued, some of which had eye infections or stomach bugs.

Mr Campbell said in the opinion of a vet who examined the bodies, all the animals had been subjected to unnecessary suffering.

He said that Magraw confirmed in an interview that he had killed some rabbits and fed them to the cats.

He said he had been running a pet supply business, providing animals to shops in Darlington and south Durham since 2002, but things had started to get on top of him and he had sold some of the animals.

He also admitted he knew the animals were there and had continued to visit the sheds to feed the cats, but not the other animals, which he admitted he knew would harm them.

"He was punishing them," said Mr Campbell. "He goes on to say because of what other people had been doing to him, he had been punishing the animals."

Graham Sylvester, mitigating, said Magraw had been suffering from depression and had been working more than 100 hours a week at the time of the incident.

He said his client had showed remorse and had not intentionally harmed the animals.

Magraw, of Park Lane, Darlington, was given six concurrent jail sentences of 18 weeks, suspended for two years, and banned from keeping animals for life. He has been subjected to a one-year supervision period and an 18-week curfew, from 8pm to 8am. He was also ordered to pay legal costs of £1,527.

Chairwoman of the Bench, Maria Waller, said: "His prolonged neglect caused the animals to die."

He pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to six charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals.