The proprietor of hen rescue centre has been given a lifetime ban from conserving animals after inspectors discovered dozens of lifeless and injured wild birds.
Carol Gravenor, 67, from Coed Main, Caerphilly, admitted six animal welfare offences after 26 birds had been rescued from her sanctuary.
A Peregrine Falcon with a lacking eye was present in a dirty cage too small to unfold its wings, the RSPCA stated. It needed to be put down, together with 20 others.
The Peregrine Falcon which needed to be put down (RSPCA).
The Caerphilly Bird Rescue, a widely known charity for hen rehabilitation in South Wales, was run by Mrs Gravenor and her husband Ray till his demise in 2021.
In a written assertion heard by Newport Magistrates’ Court, RSPCA inspector Keith Hogben described unhygienic and unsafe circumstances discovered throughout an inspection of the centre in April 2023. Some had been dwelling in a kitchen contained in the property, he stated, whereas others had been free within the backyard and a few had been caged in sheds, and 20 had been discovered lifeless.
The wild birds discovered included pigeons, Blackbirds, Carrion Crows, Jackdaws, the aforementioned Peregrine Falcon and a Common Buzzard.
Hogben stated: “There had been many empty dirty hen cages piled on high of one another within the backyard. In the again backyard had been a number of pigeons walking round that regarded to have dropped wings together with some home geese, a home goose and a rooster that was clearly lame. We had been invited into the home and on the kitchen desk had been two fledgling Blackbirds and a nestling pigeon.”
All the birds had been despatched for evaluation by a wildlife veterinarian on the RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre, the place simply 5 pigeons had been deemed match to be given the possibility of rehabilitation.
Gravenor was sentenced to 14 weeks’ custody, suspended for 12 months. In her defence, her solicitor stated her respiration was impacted by respiratory situation psittacosis, often known as ‘pigeon fanciers lung’, and had struggled because the demise of her husband.
