Below is the first case we have seen where the 5 year sentencing would be applicable if there had been an offence under section 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, however it appears that in this case the RSPCA have opted to prosecute section 9 offences only, despite there being reference to one bird having an injured leg.
Instead of the usual prosecution of unnecessary suffering under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 for the duck with the injured leg (or health issue as referred to in the article), the RSPCA claim their early intervention has resulted in just one bird having health issues.
Had there been any charge under section 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the sentence could have been upto 5 years in jail and an option to be heard at crown court instead of the magistrates court.
Offences under section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 were not increased to 5 years, they remain at 6 months, so are summary only, which means they can only be heard in the magistrates court.
We will be monitoring closely.
Douglas Oliphant and Michelle Wilkinson had the birds, as well as two cats and a dog, in plastic crates and rabbit hutches.
Cramped in tiny, faeces-covered cages inside a small Northumberland home, these were the conditions a couple forced their 23 ducks and chickens to live in.
Douglas Oliphant and Michelle Wilkinson kept the birds in plastic recycling crates covered with netting and rabbit hutches in their two-bedroom, mid-terraced house in Lynemouth.
In one overcrowded crate alone, six cockerels were being forced to live, North Tyneside Magistrates' Court was told.
The pair also kept a dog and two cats in "inadequately small" cages, which didn't have a clean supply of fresh drinking water nor suitable bedding, prosecutors said.
All the animals were seized after an inspection by the RSPCA and Oliphant, 57, and Wilkinson, 54, were each charged with three counts of failing to ensure animal welfare.
The couple, of Dalton Avenue, in Lynemouth, have now been banned from keeping fowl after they pleaded guilty to all three offences.
Alex Bousfield, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said the animals were seized on July 27 this year.
"This is a case that involves quite a large number of animals, 26 in total, all housed in quite a small dwelling - a mid-terraced, two-bedroom house, which was entirely unsuitable for the occupation of these animals", Mr Bousfield continued.
"It was so crowded and it was not suitable and not healthy for the defendants either.
"It was not suitable for the animals or the defendants to live in. RSPCA inspectors intervened at an early stage so, thankfully, only one duck had any health issues and that was something to do with a leg and not related to its housing conditions.
"Six cockerels were being kept in a recycling tub with netting on the top and other birds were being kept in rabbit hutches.
"Clearly, they were being fed and watered as there were no problems with the animals' weight."
The court heard that the chickens and ducks were covered in their own faeces, as were the cages they were being kept in.
Mr Bousfield said Oliphant and Wilkinson had not been deliberately cruel but rather didn't have the knowledge or capability to look after the animals.
Mr Harrison, defending, said the retired couple, who already owned the cats and dog, had bought the birds in a bid to make a "better and more simple" life for themselves.
He told the court that Oliphant was intending to keep them in his allotment but hadn't got it ready in time.
"With a mixture of naivety and poor planning, the birds grew and their needs grew much quicker than anticipated," Mr Harrison added.
The court heard that the pair, who had been living in "hoarding conditions", had now cleaned out their home.
They were each given a 12-month conditional discharge and were banned from keeping fowl for 12 months.
The couple will, however, be allowed to keep the two cats and the dog.
Sentencing them, District Judge Gary Garland said he was satisfied Oliphant and Wilkinson had been reckless rather than deliberate.
He added: "The real uncomfortableness and lack of care was to the birds because you had them crowded in cages that were far too small and were not kept very clean, so they were rolling in their own mess and pecking at each other and not having an easy time of it."
Oilphant and Wilkinson were also ordered to pay £300 in costs.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/horrific-conditions-cruel-northumberland-couple-22482646?fbclid=IwAR0UG3tAe6iCc6_pbVgFd61Akg3zxjH-nde2FxbTlnN02RBUlMEHgQAslBw
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