Life ban for man who neglected 11 dogs and puppies

Reggie Bennett was banned by magistrates from keeping animals for life

A man who kept 11 dogs, including seven puppies, in squalid conditions surrounded by waste and without food and water has been banned from keeping animals for life.

Reggie Bennett, 32, of Main Street in Cleator, Cumbria, admitted five charges relating to the welfare of the dogs and one of owning a banned XL bully.

West Cumbria Magistrates' Court in Workington heard Cumbria Police had racked up a £67,300 bill in veterinary treatments and kennels for the dogs over the 310 nights since they were seized.

David Wales, defending, said Bennett suffered from complex mental health issues and had been made homeless at the time of the offences in January.

Pam Fee, prosecuting, said officers called to the scene described the exterior of the house as "unkempt and overflowing with rubbish".

Inside, they found a dog called Bella and her weeks-old puppies in the kitchen, kept without water in a "makeshift pen" that was "littered with faeces".

Ms Fee said the puppies were so small they could not move properly and were crawling in the dog mess.

'Inbreeding' and eye defects

Bella was found to have mites and the puppies required worming, Ms Fee said.

"The puppies had quite a number of health issues," she said.

"Some needed surgery to their eyes because of inbreeding and some had their paws pointing in the wrong direction."

The other three adult dogs were found in a 2m by 4m (6.5ft by 13ft) room with the door wedged shut.

The area was covered in dog mess and urine and there was no food or water.

For the defence, Mr Wales said Bennett had previously been evicted because his landlord "thought he could make a greater profit".

He said Bennett, who had been "self-medicating", was the owner of the XL bully named Max but claimed the other dogs belonged to a friend he was living with.

Mr Wales pleaded with magistrates not to impose a compensation order for the bill Cumbria Police footed for caring for the dogs.

"You could order him to pay £67,000 compensation, but you might as well order him to fly to the moon," he said.

Magistrates ordered Bennet to pay £500 compensation to the police and imposed a 12-month community order, with a requirement to carry out 10 rehabilitation activity days.

He was also ordered to undertake alcohol abstinence monitoring for 108 days.

Imposing the lifetime ban on keeping animals, magistrates' chairman Charlotte Wood told Bennett: "We do not believe that your personal ability [to keep animals] will change."

However, she said he could apply to remove the order in 10 years.