A STOURBRIDGE woman has been banned from keeping animals for life after she left two cats in a house to die of starvation.

Karen Whittingham, a popular figure on the Black Country amateur dramatics circuit, was sentenced on Tuesday (December 6) at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court for causing unnecessary suffering to the two cats by failing to feed them and failing to ensure they were housed in a suitable environment.

The court was told the RSPCA discovered the two dead cats on March 15 at a property in Bridle Road, Wollaston, which Ms Whittingham had been evicted from in early January. The animal charity was alerted after a member of the public saw the body of a white cat through the window of the house. The body of the second cat, a tabby, was found in the toilet by an RSPCA inspector and police officer.

Ms Whittingham, aged 44, told the court she was admitted to hospital with kidney stones and a prolapsed disc, in "excruciating pain", prior to the cats being found dead.

Rafe Turner, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, however, said she made no arrangements for the animals to be looked after while she was in Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital on February 19 and 20 and from February 22 to 28 and she didn't go back to check on the cats after she was discharged.

Ms Whittingham, now living in Winford Avenue, Kingswinford, told the court she had been unable to call anyone as there was no phone signal in the hospital and she had relied on a friend to contact her landlord.

She said she remained in "discomfort" with the back problem after being discharged.

Mr Turner told the court Ms Whittingham said she had been returning to the property every other day prior to her emergency hospital admissions but she admitted she didn’t return to check on the cats after being discharged and he said she had in fact returned to work.

He said: "It would have been evident to a reasonably competent person that leaving two cats without food and water would result in hunger, thirst, starvation and death. The vet concluded both cats suffered unnecessarily."

He told the court there was no clean drinking water or food in the house and the cats most likely died of malnutrition. The cat found in the toilet was believed to have been trying to get water.

One of the police officers who attended the property, which was littered with bottles, cans, papers, general household rubbish, overflowing cat litter trays and piles of faeces, described the smell inside as "almost sick-making".

Mr Turner said Ms Whittingham admitted the property was in a mess and he said she had taken two cats with her when she was evicted but left the others as she couldn't take all of them.

Representing herself in court, she sobbed as she said: "I’ve never been and never would be cruel to animals in my life."

The magistrates, however, disqualified her from keeping animals indefinitely and handed out a four-month jail term, suspended for 12 months, after three animal cruelty charges were proven in her absence at a hearing in August.

She was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid community work and to pay £500 costs and an £85 surcharge.

An order was also made for any other animals in her care to be removed and she was told she would not have the option to appeal the ban on keeping pets for at least ten years.

RSPCA inspector Paul Seddon said after the case: “I’ve been an inspector for 34 years and I am still haunted by the image of the cat in the toilet. Both cats were clearly emaciated and it is possible the cat in the toilet was trying to get some fluid inside him when he died.

"These two poor cats would have suffered immensely before they died - there is no excuse to leave an animal to die in this way.”

Ms Whittingham said after the case she was under the impression the RSPCA were not going to press for a prosecution as there were "extremely extenuating circumstances" and she claims she never received any correspondence or information informing her she was being taken to court.

She said: "They decided in my absence that l was guilty. I didn't receive any letter telling me l had to attend court previously, nor was any card pushed through the door with a special delivery notification."