Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

£400 fine for woman who left animals in appalling conditions

Stevie-Ley Murray.
Stevie-Ley Murray.

A woman who neglected a dozen cats, four rats, a hamster and two bearded dragons, leaving the animals starving and emaciated and surrounded by their own faeces and rubbish, was fined £400 by Sheriff Tom Hughes.

Jamie-Ley Murray, 22, of Cleghorn Street, Dundee, was also banned from keeping animals for two years after the sheriff court heard the two reptiles were also suspected of having suffered metabolic bone disease.

Murray admitted that, between March 13 and April 7 last year, being the owner of the animals, she failed to ensure their needs were met, failed to provide a suitable environment and failed to feed them properly.

Depute fiscal Douglas Wiseman said that as a result of Murray’s ill-treatment, one of the rats was found to have died in the house while another had to be put to sleep by vets.

He said the SSPCA were called to the house after a tip-off and when officers entered the property they were met by a foul stench. A cat tray in the hall was covered in faeces and the floors all around were also littered with faeces and rubbish.

The various animals were rehomed, he said.

Solicitor David Duncan said Murray had been living at the house with her female partner but the other woman had appeared in court on a domestic abuse charge and they had separated.

The other woman had been banned by the court from contacting Murray or going to the house, however she told the accused she would take care of the animals.

He said his client was too scared to go to the house in case she encountered her former partner but she accepted her responsibility.

He said: “It’s not that she did nothing, it’s just that she didn’t do enough. Not all the animals were hers.”

Sheriff Hughes told her it was an “appalling situation that the animals were left to suffer under these conditions”.

Scottish SPCA inspector Robert Baldie said he was pleased that his team’s investigation had led to a ban on keeping animals for Murray.

“When I visited her property in April the smell was almost unbearable. The floor was covered in faeces and one of the rats was dead. Other animals were lethargic and unwilling to move, with the two small bearded dragons suffering from a bone disease,” he said.

“The animals had obviously been left unattended in the flat for quite some time and living in their own mess without having their basic needs provided for.

“We hope Murray will use the ban to accept responsibility for her actions and consider whether she should take on any more animals in future.”