London woman, 73, faces prison for animal house of horrors

Cruel: the dogs were found in cramped conditions
RSPCA
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A pensioner who flouted a lifetime ban on owning pets by turning her north London home into an animal house of horrors could be jailed.

Dulcie Seago-Madi, 73, was banned in November last year from owning any animals when RSPCA inspectors discovered 16 malnourished and diseased dogs in cages at her squalid house.

She was given a four-month suspended sentence and the sick animals were taken away to be rehomed.

But less than a month later, Seago-Madi had nearly 50 cats roaming around her urine and faeces-soaked home in Crouch Hill.

Squalor: a dog at the house
RSPCA

Dogs were also in desperate need of food and water and an African grey parrot had not been fed for days.

Inspectors also found a dead hedgehog in a bedroom, animal carcasses and a tortoise that was not being properly looked after.

Prosecutor Dilichi Onuzo told Highbury Corner magistrates’ court yesterday that one cat had to be put down. “The whole place was covered in faeces and urine, there were bowls out but no sign of water in them.”

Seago-Madi pleaded guilty to breaking the ban on keeping animals, and welfare offences.

She could be jailed when sentenced next month.

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