Up to 180 pet rabbits living in filthy conditions were crammed into a Bradford couple's garage, a court heard.

Many were sick and a vet had to destroy 95 rabbits and three guinea pigs because they were so badly neglected.

Stacked-up cages lined the walls and 30 rabbits were crowded into a central pen area.

RSPCA Inspector Carol Neale was confronted by an "overpowering smell" when a tip-off led her to Karen Brook's home in Leyton Drive, Idle, Bradford, magistrates heard.

Brook pleaded guilty to five specimen counts of causing unnecessary suffering to 95 rabbits and three guinea pigs.

RSPCA solicitor Nigel Monaghan told the court Insp Neale went to the semi-detached house on April 24 last year after a neighbour claimed the rabbits had not been cleaned out since Christmas.

Brook was not at home but husband Gerard told Insp Neale his wife had 180 rabbits in the garage, adding: "It's nowt to do with me. It's her problem".

The inspector returned four days later and "witnessed horrendous conditions", with 40 hutches and cages stacked in the garage.

Mr Monaghan said Insp Neale and an RSPCA vet were at the garage from 6pm until 5am the following morning.

Rabbits had eye, skin, nail, coat and feet problems. They had faecel contamination from the filthy cages, little bedding and very few had water. Four rabbits and a guinea pig were found dead. Three rabbits were so badly decomposed that post-mortem examinations could not be carried out.

The vet estimated that the decaying rabbit corpses had been left at least three or four days, probably longer.

Mr Monaghan said the garage lacked proper ventilation and there was a terrible stench.

Mr Monaghan said 75 rabbits were left at the property with a Welfare Assessment Form telling Brook to care for them properly, but when Insp Neale returned on May 2 she found most water bottles empty.

Brook said she could not cope with the rabbits and they were all rehomed.

She was left with one house rabbit and a hamster, but when the inspector checked in November the rabbit was stained with urine and had overgrown teeth.

The neglected rabbits had endured up to three months of suffering. Many had dermititis, one had a hole in its ear and another's claw was snapped to the quick.

Mr Monaghan said the total cost to the RSPCA of bringing the prosecution was £3,443, including £2,470 in vet fees.

He urged magistrates to impose a blanket ban on Brook keeping animals.

Her solicitor Graham Gouldsborough said it was "a sad tale brought about by a love of animals and one in which Mrs Brook found herself out of her depth".

Her hobby was keeping rabbits and she had started with just two four years' ago, but Brook could not tell the difference between males and females and suffered "an explosion of rabbits".

She suffered clinical depression and financial problems and found herself "like a rabbit caught in the headlights, with nowhere to turn".

Although she had spent hours trying to care for the rabbits "the whole thing rapidly degenerated into an unacceptable state".

Magistrates adjourned the case until February 28 for a probation report, warning Brook the court would consider all sentencing options. Her unconditional bail was extended.

  • Start or join a debate on this issue in our online forum