FOUR members of the same family have been banned from keeping animals for life after the RSPCA found a dead kitten and seven starving and underweight cats in a Bradford house.

A vet’s examination showed the six-week-old kitten had been bitten by the other cats because they were so desperate for food.

All the cats were living in poor conditions at the property in Fernbank Road, Bradford Moor.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: One of the seven other catsOne of the seven other cats (Image: Google)

At Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court on September 13, Dawn Mawson, 49, now of Lowfield Road in Tetbury, was convicted of four offences under the Animal Welfare Act.

Sabrina Mawson, 23, also of Lowfield Road, Tetbury, was convicted of the same offences as her mother.

Elisha Mawson, 23, of Wycliffe Gardens in Shipley, was convicted of two animal welfare offences.

Elizabeth Mawson, 25, of Durkheim Court in Bradford Moor, was convicted of three animal welfare offences after a trial, having initially pleaded not guilty to all those offences.

The court heard how the body of the kitten was handed over by a former partner of Elizabeth to RSPCA inspector Kris Walker when he called at the property on August 30, 2019.

The inspector found two urine-stained cats, Kit and Bubbles, being kept in filthy crates in the kitchen.

Five other cats, Coco, Molly, Ginger, Bella and Mimi were running loose in the home.

The seven cats all made good recoveries in the care of the RSPCA and all of them were rehomed, including those who stayed with their long-term foster carers.

A post-mortem concluded the wounds to the kitten’s neck and head were mostly likely bite marks and combined with his poor body condition were the cause of death.  

“The fact that the other cats in the house attacked him (the kitten) is quite unusual and it is possible they had done this as they saw him as a source of much-needed food,” the vet stated in her report.

They were told by the magistrates: “It is abundantly clear that the welfare needs of these animals were simply not met. This has been one of the worst cases of animal neglect. Custody was a real option we considered in this case.”

Speaking after the case, RSPCA inspector Walker said: “It was awful the state these cats had been left in and how hungry they were when we took them to the vets.

“Sadly, they were so hungry that they had picked off the weakest link among them.”