PETS BAN AFTER RAT CRUELTY CASE
A MAN who caused cruelty to 41 pet rats has been banned from keeping animals for life and sentenced to 200 hours' community service.Alan Dominey failed to feed, water and clean the caged rats in his bedsit, a court heard.
An RSPCA inspector and police searched the flat in August 1999 to find 10 cages of live and dead rats.
Some rats had eaten others to stay alive.
The flat had an overpowering stench, the court heard.
Bench chairman, Bill Stokes, said: "You came within a whisker of going to prison.
In 25 years on the bench I've never experienced such cruelty to animals.
The sentence is affected to some extent by the psychological report." The court heard Dominey, 27, of Poole, had rowed with his half-sister and refused to feed the animals that belonged to her.
Only 17 rats were alive when inspectors entered the Southampton flat.
Others had died leaving only traces of dried skin and bones.
Vets who examined the rats said they had never come across rat cannibalism, adding the rodents had to have been "incredibly hungry".
Dominey, who now lives with his disabled aunt in Blandford Road, Poole, as her full-time carer, agreed to a life-ban from keeping pets before sentencing.
Terri Connor, for Dominey, told Southampton magistrates: "Iron-ically, he obtained the rats by rescuing them from someone who was mistreating them.
He and his sister started taking care of them." Psychological reports stated he was mentally handicapped "within a mild range" and had learning disabilities.
Speaking after the case, RSPCA Chief Inspector Judith Palmer said: "We're pleased he's got a life ban on keeping all animals.
That's ultimately what we aim to get."
