A St Andrews pet minder left animals in her care unattended for five days, after forgetting to put a note in her diary.
Gaynor Burgess, 60, of Brigston Cottages, was disqualified from working with animals for 40 months after pleading guilty to two charges of animal neglect.
Cupar Sheriff Court heard Ms Burgess, a former veterinary nurse with over 40 years’ experience of working with animals, had agreed to look after the two shih tzu dogs and two cats at a home in Winram Place and a further three shih tzu dogs at Radernie Place for two and five days, respectively, in October last year.
She had met the owners to collect the keys to their properties beforehand.
Having been contacted following their return, Burgess is said to have stated: “Thank God the dogs are all right.”
Charles Jackson, for Burgess, told the court that although Burgess, whose business has in the region of 100 clients, had taken keys to both properties from the owners, she had failed to take a note of her duties.
He said: “She has run a pet-minding business for many years and had looked after one of the owners’ pets in the past.
“She failed to diary these duties and it went out of her head. She wrote to both owners to apologise and returned their money.”
In sentencing Burgess, Sheriff Charles Macnair said: “You were running a business caring for animals and that requires responsibilities of you. You failed in these in a substantial way.
“Luckily, the animals don’t appear to have suffered any long-term problems.
“In considering your penalty, the statute requires me to give a reason not to disqualify you. In my view, no such reason exists.”
He fined Burgess a total of £400 and banned her from working with animals for 40 months.