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Woman who kept 271 animals jailed
Rosalind Gregson was disqualified from keeping animals
A woman who kept 271 animals in her home in appalling conditions has been jailed for three months.
Rosalind Gregson, 55, of Silverdale, Lancashire, admitted nine charges last month of failing to provide the animals with necessary care and attention.
An earlier hearing before Preston magistrates heard the animals were emaciated and covered in faeces and urine when they were found.
Ms Gregson was disqualified from keeping animals for life.
Preston Magistrates' Court heard many of the animals were suffering from infections and injuries when they were found by RSPCA inspectors at Mrs Gregson's home off Lindeth Road.
There were 246 dogs, 16 birds, five cats, two kittens, a rabbit and a Chinchilla. Nine had to be put down.
At an earlier hearing Ms Gregson had denied 49 counts of failing to provide the animals with necessary care and attention.
The court heard Gregson kept the dogs in dark, dirty conditions
But in May she changed her plea and admitted nine counts of causing them unreasonable suffering.
The nine charges referred to two Yorkshire terriers, three Lhaso apsos, three shih tzu and one Old English sheepdog.
Five of these animals had to be put down.
Defending Ms Gregson, Ann-Marie Gregory told the court her obsessive animal collecting began when her son died from a drug overdose 15 years ago.
She said: "She never had any counselling, she never had any way of dealing with the pain or loss.
"That appeared to be the trigger factor in her beginning to collect a large number of animals.
Dirty conditions
"This is wholly about a tragic set of circumstances. It's about sadness, it's about isolation, it's about the loss of a child, it's about despair, it's about obsession. The list just goes on and on."
Ms Gregson had kept her animals in dark, dusty, dirty conditions with little water or food and little ventilation.
The RSPCA officers described in court how their eyes had watered and they had found it difficult to breathe in the house.
Asked why there were so many animals in the house, Ms Gregson told police: "Because it got out of hand, its just an obsession, I couldn't stop."
'Beyond belief'
RSPCA Inspector Sarah Hayland said the scene she found was beyond belief.
"It's a normal looking property from the outside -- and then to be faced with the room full of dogs.
"And we had no idea how many animals were in there, right until the second day when we'd been in all the rooms.
"It's just the enormity of it, the amount of animals involved is something that I've never come across before and hope never to again," she told BBC Radio Five Live.
Rosalind Gregson was disqualified from keeping animals
A woman who kept 271 animals in her home in appalling conditions has been jailed for three months.
Rosalind Gregson, 55, of Silverdale, Lancashire, admitted nine charges last month of failing to provide the animals with necessary care and attention.
An earlier hearing before Preston magistrates heard the animals were emaciated and covered in faeces and urine when they were found.
Ms Gregson was disqualified from keeping animals for life.
Preston Magistrates' Court heard many of the animals were suffering from infections and injuries when they were found by RSPCA inspectors at Mrs Gregson's home off Lindeth Road.
There were 246 dogs, 16 birds, five cats, two kittens, a rabbit and a Chinchilla. Nine had to be put down.
At an earlier hearing Ms Gregson had denied 49 counts of failing to provide the animals with necessary care and attention.
The court heard Gregson kept the dogs in dark, dirty conditions
But in May she changed her plea and admitted nine counts of causing them unreasonable suffering.
The nine charges referred to two Yorkshire terriers, three Lhaso apsos, three shih tzu and one Old English sheepdog.
Five of these animals had to be put down.
Defending Ms Gregson, Ann-Marie Gregory told the court her obsessive animal collecting began when her son died from a drug overdose 15 years ago.
She said: "She never had any counselling, she never had any way of dealing with the pain or loss.
"That appeared to be the trigger factor in her beginning to collect a large number of animals.
Dirty conditions
"This is wholly about a tragic set of circumstances. It's about sadness, it's about isolation, it's about the loss of a child, it's about despair, it's about obsession. The list just goes on and on."
Ms Gregson had kept her animals in dark, dusty, dirty conditions with little water or food and little ventilation.
The RSPCA officers described in court how their eyes had watered and they had found it difficult to breathe in the house.
Asked why there were so many animals in the house, Ms Gregson told police: "Because it got out of hand, its just an obsession, I couldn't stop."
'Beyond belief'
RSPCA Inspector Sarah Hayland said the scene she found was beyond belief.
"It's a normal looking property from the outside -- and then to be faced with the room full of dogs.
"And we had no idea how many animals were in there, right until the second day when we'd been in all the rooms.
"It's just the enormity of it, the amount of animals involved is something that I've never come across before and hope never to again," she told BBC Radio Five Live.
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