A WOMAN who ran a dog rescue centre has been given a six-month suspended jail sentence after her appeal against a conviction for cruelty to more than 40 animals failed.
Cassidy Sinclair (50) was banned from ever owning a dog again after a court heard she had kept "rescued" dogs in a 6in deep "slurry mixture" of their own excrement and urine.
David Fagan, a vet who treated dogs seized from Ms Sinclair's house by gardaí, said many of the animals had "gaping and infected bite wounds in their flesh".
He said the dogs were "wallowing in their own excrement" and that these conditions had caused "unnecessary suffering" to the animals.
Ms Sinclair, Derrykearn, Abbeyleix, Co Laois, was convicted in May this year of cruelty to dogs at her rented home. Her appeal against the conviction was dismissed at Portlaoise Circuit Court this week by Judge Anthony Kennedy, who said the dogs had suffered "appalling cruelty".
Sgt John Malone, of Abbeyleix Garda station, said the smell of dog faeces and urine inside Ms Sinclair's house had made his "stomach churn and eyes water".
He said there was a 2ft high pile of dog faeces in the kitchen and "animal bones scattered all over the floor".
Brendan Hughes, animal welfare inspector with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said he called to Ms Sinclair's house on March 12th this year. He said he found 20 dogs living in a compound measuring 20ft by 30ft and that there were also dogs living in "horrific conditions" inside Ms Sinclair's house.
He said the dogs were fed butchers' bones, which were scattered around the yard amongst a thick layer of dog excrement and urine.
Mr Hughes said he returned to the house the following day accompanied by gardaí and a vet and seized 27 dogs. A further 19 dogs were seized in follow up searches of the property.
Ms Sinclair told the court she had been rescuing dogs at the address for two years but that the "situation had exploded" and that people were leaving dogs at her gate. Judge Kennedy said he "utterly rejected" Ms Sinclair's evidence and said it was no wonder she had been barred for life by the District Court from owning dogs. He dismissed her appeal and applied a six-month suspended prison sentence to the life ban.