A dog lover who could not refuse when asked to take in unwanted animals from rescue shelters, found herself overwhelmed amid a mental health crisis, a court was told.
During a difficult period in Hannah Critchlow’s life, she allowed herself, and the animals for which she cared, to live in, “appalling conditions”, in a house found covered in dog faeces.
She has now been fined and banned for keeping animals for a year following an RSPCA prosecution.
Peterlee magistrates heard that RSPCA inspectors were notified of concerns over a number of dogs barking at a property where Critchlow was living in Peterlee, in June last year.
Having gained no further information, the inspectors decided to go into the property, after speaking to a neighbour and the landlord.
A van was seen outside advertising a dog walking business the defendant was operating at the time.
Kevin Campbell, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said police and two inspectors from the society were given permission by her to enter.
Having gained access, they found 11 dogs inside in the care of the defendant, several belonging to other people, but the floors were found to be covered in faeces and the kitchen, bathroom and other rooms were filthy.
“It was obvious the conditions were completely unacceptable, and dogs should not have been kept in the conditions they were in,” said Mr Campbell.
A vet was asked to comment, and he agreed the conditions were unacceptable.
Mr Campbell said hundreds of full dog poo bags were found in the living room, where the floorboards were rotting away.
The dogs were removed, but, upon examination, it was found that other than a few minor problems, like alopecia, none was suffering any specific health issues.
Critchlow was interviewed, and she accepted running a commercial business and having had a few previous warnings about the conditions.
The defendant said she did not think it was that bad, but she conceded it was not good enough.
She added that she had tried, but she agreed she needed to do something about it.
Critchlow, 30, now of Birkett Terrace, Trimdon, admitted not taking reasonable steps to ensure the needs of animals for which she was responsible, namely 11 dogs, were met to the extent required by good practice in that she failed to provide a suitable environment.
Neil Douglas, representing Critchlow, said he wanted to explain how, “this awful situation” had arisen.
He said she was a young woman, “obsessed with animals, particularly dogs”.
Mr Douglas said: “The conditions in which she and the dogs were living were undoubtedly appalling.
“I have seen the photographs and it’s stomach-churning.
“The conditions the dogs were living in were the same conditions she was living in.
“On the face of it there must have been something wrong in her life to allow her to be in that position.”
Mr Douglas said the defendant trained for an animal care qualification in her late teens and worked for nine years at a dog rescue centre, before setting up her dog walking and caring business.
He said the reason she had 11 dogs in her care was that she fostered dogs and looked after them for charities and animal rescue societies.
“They would contact her to see if she was prepared to take a dog and she was unable to refuse in circumstances where there was no alternative for the dog.
“She was an extremely ‘soft touch’ and she took on too much and did so at a time she was mentally frail.”
Mr Douglas said after a family tragedy in August 2022, she started her “slide” into the conditions she found herself living in.
“She was diagnosed with anxiety and depression and was seeing a mental health practitioner.”
But he said the RSPCA intervention was a “watershed” and she has been improving since, while still receiving medication.
Mr Douglas said she has the support of her family and now lives with her mother, and, with the right medication, she is back to her “pre-2022” condition.
“Clearly, from the details we have heard, something has gone very badly wrong.
“We understand the dogs have not suffered neglect, as such, but were not looked after as they should have been.”
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The magistrates agreed to fine the defendant £200, with £330 costs and court surcharge.
Mr Blackburn added: “In all the circumstances we do think it right to disqualify you from owning or caring for all animals for 12 months, the minimum period.”
Although not said to be still a dog owner, the terms of the ban prohibit the defendant from even walking dogs unaccompanied for the next year.
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