‘Devastating cruelty’: suspended sentence for woman who neglected more than 100 horses and other animals
Date of alert:
Saturday, 27 August 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Surrey Police
A woman who mistreated more than 100 animals has been given a suspended sentence and a lifetime ban on keeping animals.
Christine Kelly, 60, of Portsmouth Road, Ripley, was found guilty of 15 offences under the Animal Welfare Act in a trial this summer, including failing to meet the needs of 131 equines. She was also convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to horses, dogs and goats.
More than 200 animals were removed from a Surrey farm in a huge, multi-agency operation in January 2019.
Authorities found huge herds of ponies, many riddled with worms, living in fields with metal and broken fencing sticking up from thick mud. They found pens full of donkeys, goats and ponies, many standing on two to three feet of waste and faeces.
Dozens of dogs, some heavily pregnant and others with puppies, were found chained and tethered on the filthy yard, while others were shut inside tiny cramped cages or makeshift kennels.
