Inside the three-bedroom house of squalor where mother and daughter kept nearly 100 cats in 'unbearable' conditions
- - Mother and daughter banned from keeping animals for TEN years
- - Margaret and Kara Foster spent £200 a week of their benefits on cat food
- - Both women received 12 week prison sentence suspended for 12 months
- - Ordered to pay £500 costs and daughter must do 160 hours of unpaid work
By MATT WEST
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These pictures show the squalid conditions in which nearly 100 cats had to live with their owners.
When they were discovered, 13 of the pets - owned by Margaret Foster, 65, and her daughter Kara, 20 - were so ill that they had to be put down.
In total there were 87 cats living in filth described by RSPCA inspectors that found them as 'unbearable' and costing the pair £200 a week paid for using their benefits.
Both Margaret and Kara Foster have been banned from keeping animals for 10 years for unnecessary suffering to animals because they were unable to afford vets' bills.
Unbearable scene: inspectors described the scene of the home 87 cats as unbearable after neighbours complained about the smell
Most of the cats discovered by RSPCA inspectors in the house were sick and underweight. Here some of their food bowls can be seen lined up on a kitchen work surface
Margaret and Kara Foster were both ordered to pay £500 while Kara was told to carry out community service
Suspicions about the house of horror were first aroused when neighbours reported the disgusting smell that was emitting from the house in Leicester last February.
RSPCA inspectors visited but were not given full access to the home. They were told that there were between six and nine cats and that the house was cleaned daily.
However, six months later police were called to the house for an unrelated matter and they contacted the charity again to report what they had found.
This time they were allowed into the house where they discovered the filth-ridden conditions in which the cats were living.
Inspector Sally Kearns said: ‘The cats had not been neutered and the situation had spiralled out of control, with lots of breeding. There were far too many cats for anyone to care for properly.
‘There were cats everywhere I looked - in corners, behind furniture and even in the ceiling. Most were in a pitiful state, extremely thin and with lots of eye problems.’
Two of the cats lie amid piles of rubbish after being discovered in the three-bedroom house
The home in Leicester was described by RSPCA inspectors as 'unbearable'
Inspectors found litter-trays overflowing, and general filth throughout the house
Prosecutor Kevin McCole said: ‘Most of the cats were extremely thin, many had severe problems with their eyes caused by fighting and infections and some had to have their eyes removed as a result.
‘All were in need of urgent veterinary treatment.
‘Sadly, 13 were in such a poor state of health they had to be put to sleep to end their suffering. The others were nursed back to health and re-homed.’
Rebecca Plant, on behalf of the Fosters, said they tried to get as many of the cats neutered as they could and spent £200 a week from their benefits on cat food.
The court also heard the women ran up debts in their own names and then used other names at vets to avoid fees they could not afford.
The defence repeated that the house was cleaned thoroughly on a daily basis.
A cat sits on top of a cupboard in the house where some of the pets were taking refuge in the attic
Thirteen of the cats were so ill as a result of the neglect they suffered that they had to be put down
The large number of cats is a result of breeding that got out of control and the Fosters' inability to pay for vets' bills
Ms Plant said: ‘It is somewhat of a blessing in disguise and a huge relief for them.’
She added the cats were kept inside all the time and the mother and daughter led ‘a reclusive existence’ because they feared they would lose their home if the situation became known.
Ms Plant said: ‘This gives them the opportunity to sort their lives out after all this time of having to hide. The RSPCA and council have been very supportive.
'Neither defendant intends to have cats again.'
The pair were both banned from keeping any animal for ten years and were each sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.
They were made to pay £500 costs and daughter Kara Foster must do 160 hours of unpaid work.
Many of the cats had to have eyes removed when they became infected as a result of fighting
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