A COUPLE who were given a 10-year ban from keeping dogs have been cleared of breaching the order.

RSPCA inspectors found a number of dogs in the caravan of James and Susan Carter when they made visits to their Wolverley home.

But Droitwich magistrates accepted their claim the dogs belonged to a neighbour.

Mr Carter, 65, and his 49-year-old wife were convicted last year when three of their 53 dogs were found to be so mange-ridden they were put down.

They denied four counts of keeping dogs while disqualified.

The RSPCA pressed charges after making visits to the Carters' caravan in Kingsford Lane, Wolverley, last year.

Chief Insp Alan Janes and Insp Barry Williams said they saw two jack russell terriers, a yorkshire terrier and a lurcher inside the caravan.

On one occasion they met Mrs Carter at the caravan and cautioned her when they saw dogs in the property.

Chief Insp Janes said she told them the dogs did not belong to her.

He said she claimed the owner of the animals was asleep in the caravan, but would not say who it was.

"She said we had no right to interview her and we were only a charity," he said.

He said Mr Carter also refused to answer any questions when they saw him on a subsequent visit.

Mrs Carter said the dogs belonged to their neighbour, Stephen Farlow, who stayed at their caravan from time to time.

"He fed them and controlled them - they always came in with him, and he always took them away," she said.

Mr Farlow told the court he suffered from poor health and had been staying with the Carters last summer because of flooding in his home.

He said he suffered from heart and lung problems and tired easily.

"I sometimes sleep for one-and-a-half to two days at a time," he said.

Sarah Cooper, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said Mr Farlow would not have been able to look after the dogs if he could hardly look after himself.

She also said the couple's reluctance to speak to the inspectors made them look suspicious.

But Jonathan Edwards, defending, said the couple did not trust them after the way they said they had been treated by the RSPCA in the past.

"They don't have much time for the RSPCA, which isn't particularly surprising," he said.