A WOMAN who kept 98 dogs and 22 cats in "appalling" conditions has been banned from having pets for ten years.

Rachel Ashworth, 31, was also sentenced to 200 hours community service.

Bridlington Magistrates' Court heard how she kept dogs soaked in urine and surrounded by excrement at Rose Cottage in Low Marishes, near Pickering, North Yorkshire, where she lived with her mother, Edwina Ashworth.

She had previously pleaded guilty to 17 counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

After the hearing she said she was planning to appeal against the sentence.

RSPCA investigator Gill Corder described finding dogs packed into rooms and outbuildings, with as many as 44 in a living room.

Many of the dogs were suffering from conjunctivitis and dermatitis.

Nasra Butt, mitigating, said Ashworth had dedicated most of her life to animals and had been helping to re-home abandoned animals since she was 13.

She said: "It became more difficult to take the dogs, but she felt if she didn't, no-one else would and they would be euthanised, and the conditions she provided would be better than that."

She produced vets bills worth £11,000 paid over a two-year period.

Sentencing Ashworth, Anne Farrer said: "We've seen indisputable evidence of the appalling conditions which a large number of animals were kept.

"You failed to act and involve outside agencies and did not provide nutritional diet, veterinary care or suitable living accommodation to the detriment of the animals' well-being."

Edwina Ashworth has pleaded guilty to 34 counts of causing unnecessary cruelty to animals. Sentencing has been adjourned to Scarborough Magistrates' Court on January 18 pending medical reports.

An RSPCA spokesperson said homes had been found for all the animals that were successfully recovered.