Case Snapshot
| Case ID: 10817 | | Classification: Neglect / Abandonment | | Animal: dog (non pit-bull), bird (pet), other wildlife, bird (wildlife), chicken, reptile | | More cases in EN | | Person(s) in animal care | | Login to Watch this Case
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Animal sanctuary neglect
Loftus, EN (UK)Incident Date: Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 1 files available
Defendant/Suspect: Clifford Spedding
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
Animal sanctuary owner Clifford Spedding appeared in court accused of keeping the sick animals he could not rehome in terrible conditions and doing nothing to alleviate their suffering.
He allegedly told RSPCA inspectors that the sick and dying animals they found at the Hope Animal Sanctuary, in Loftus, east Cleveland, were "rubbish".
People who took sick animals to the sanctuary had no idea they were condemning them to a slow death, according to John Ellwood, prosecuting.
Mr Ellwood said: "The only thing the defendant was leaving the animal to do was die - of starvation or infection - in agony."
The hidden world of the animal haven was revealed when Mr Spedding appeared to face 17 charges of animal cruelty. advertisement
Teesside Magistrates' Court heard how animals were forced to walk around in faeces inches deep, in desperate conditions, with only stagnant water to drink.
A number of wild birds were discovered at the site. Some were injured and in desperate need of veterinary attention.
The allegations were yesterday put to Mr Spedding, who ran the sanctuary at his home, Whitecliff Cottages, in Loftus Bank.
The 46-year-old denied 13 cruelty charges and pleaded guilty to four charges relating to the unnecessary suffering of six ducks, 21 doves, four quails, a pigeon, two parakeets and five finches.
The shelter was raided by the RSPCA and police on March 15, 2006, when a number of animals were seized. The menagerie included 23 ducks, five chickens, six hens, two geese, a jackdaw, two macaws, two doves, two budgies, quails, pigeons, two parrots, skunks, seagulls, a dog, a tortoise and a hedgehog.
Opening what is expected to be a four-day trial, Mr Ellwood said the suffering of some of the animals was obvious.
He said Mr Spedding was charged with 16 offences of causing unnecessary suffering to a number of birds, tortoises and a dog. He is also charged with one offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 relating to a thrush, a feral pigeon and a herring gull.
Mr Ellwood said: "The defendant appears to have been in the habit of keeping animals for some 20 years. He appears to have public support and has received donations, both generally from the public and as a result of fundraising efforts.
"The premises called The Hope Animal Sanctuary can roughly be divided into two areas. There is the area which the public are permitted to have access to and which houses dogs, which are kept for rehousing and for professional boarding. People pay the defendant money to look after their dogs while they are on holiday. That area is in a reasonable condition.
"However, a different story is told when, as the RSPCA discovered, you obtain access to a more private area. In that area the defendant keeps animals in appalling conditions and where, in those conditions, they are left to suffer.
"The defendant's attitude to the animals is made clear in his interview when he explains that he 'Got rid of the good ones and just keep the worst ones back. I keep all the rubbish'."
Mr Ellwood said seagulls had contracted feather mites and had damaged wings because of the conditions in which they were kept.
Ground-foraging birds were kept in cages covered with faeces and doves became so ill with respiratory difficulties they could not perch.
"When interviewed, the defendant claimed he did not realise there was anything wrong with them apart from, perhaps, old age," said Mr Ellwood. "It appears that no animal which the defendant regarded as rubbish was taken to a vet, and that all he did was to keep animals to suffer in dreadful conditions until they died.
"What makes this case serious is the deception which the defendant has made to members of the public. If the defendant is telling the truth, then some kindly member of the public brought to him a jackdaw with a broken wing in the expectation that it would be properly cared for and its suffering in some way alleviated.
"What the defendant did was place this wild bird in captivity in a large dirty enclosure.
"The bird had a displaced fracture of the wing.
"That caring member of the public was misled because the only thing the defendant was leaving the animal to do was die."
The trial continues.
Case UpdatesA sanctuary boss could be banned from keeping animals after admitting cruelty at the haven he has run for more than 20 years.
Clifford Spedding also faces the prospect of prison after a judge warned he would consider all sentencing options.
Spedding pleaded guilty to nine charges of animal cruelty against a variety of animals found at the Hope Animal Sanctuary, in Loftus, near Saltburn, east Cleveland.
The charges relate to 93 offences of cruelty and two of keeping wild birds under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Of the 93 offences, Spedding failed to provide veterinary treatment for 41 animals, while 52 animals suffered because of the conditions in which they were kept.
The court was told he kept sick animals - that could not be re-homed - in terrible conditions and did nothing to alleviate their suffering.
People who took sick animals to the sanctuary had no idea they were condemning them to a slow death, said John Ellwood, prosecuting.
Mr Ellwood said: "The only thing the defendant was leaving the animals to do was die - of starvation or infection - in agony."
Spedding originally faced 17 charges of animal cruelty and the case was brought to Teesside Magistrates' Court for trial on Tuesday.
Although he pleaded guilty to four of the offences, he denied 13 of the charges and the case went to trial.
But Spedding, 46, then pleaded guilty to a further five charges. The other eight charges against him were dismissed.
The court heard how Spedding, who has spent a lifetime caring for sick and abandoned animals, deceived people by allowing creatures to suffer in squalor while he presented a caring public face.
No mitigation for Spedding was given in court, but in a police interview after the raid, which was read to the court, he said: "I have just been having a bad time and just never got round to doing a lot of things round there. Everything just got on top of me."
Yesterday, Mr Ellwood said: "It is the prosecution's case that the pleas that have been entered are adequate to reflect the defendant's actions."
District Judge Roger Elsey told Spedding he would be considering all sentencing options after reading a full pre-sentence report and hearing mitigation.
He said he would also be considering a disqualification order and added: "It is a matter which you will have to realise is likely at this stage and prepare for that when you are sentenced."
Spedding is expected to be sentenced on March 16. | Source: The Northern Echo - Feb 23, 2007
Update posted on Feb 25, 2007 - 10:14PM |
A man from Loftus in Cleveland today pleaded guilty to nine offences of animal cruelty relating to a large number of animals and birds.
Clifford Spedding, 46, runs the Hope Animal Shelter in Loftus, Saltburn-by-the-Sea.
Today he pleaded guilty before Teesside magistrates to nine offences relating to two birds under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; 41 animals and birds through failing to provide them with adequate veterinary attention; and 52 animals and birds by allowing them to live in conditions that caused them to suffer.
The animals involved included tortoises, ducks, herring gulls, doves, parakeets, pigeons, quails and a jackdaw. | Source: The Northern Echo - Feb 22, 2007
Update posted on Feb 25, 2007 - 10:13PM |
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