LAST WEEK, The Herald reported that a couple from Llanelli pleaded guilty to five counts of animal abuse, relating to failing to ensure the welfare of a dog, five cats, a hamster and a snake.
Prosecutor John Tarrant of the RSPCA informed the court that Natalie and Steve Alker of Waterloo Street in Llanelli were not meeting the needs of their animals in that they were not being kept in a suitable environment, despite the fact that the animals had reasonable body conditions.
Since, Steve Alker – a former professional darts player – has taken to the internet to give his side of the story.
Last Thursday (Apr 7), magistrates at the Llanelli court heard that the Alkers’ property was in ‘filthy condition’, with animal faeces and household rubbish everywhere with a ‘very unpleasant smell’ coming from the house. It was also very hot inside the property, ‘as if the central heating had been left on at an extremely high temperature over a long period of time’.
Talking about the snake, Mr Tarrant said: “The officers found two empty glass cabinets with no animals in them, and a third tank with a small snake inside, which was so thin that its backbone was visible.
“The heat and humidity in the vivarium was not suitable for the snake, which was highlighted by the accumulation of skin and large amounts of regurgitated food which was in the bottom of the tank. RSPCA workers state that the snake would have died if this treatment had continued for a few months down the line.”
The prosecutor added: “Since having their pets taken by the RSPCA, the couple have two additional cats living with them at their new address. There are some outstanding issues with the cat, snake and corgi dog where the owners haven’t yet signed them over to the RSPCA.”
The High Judge told the couple: “I’m not going to send you to prison today. We’re going to disqualify you from keeping animals for a lengthy period of time. All of your animals – your dog, cats and snake, need to be taken into the care of the RSPCA.
Steve Alker spoke up, telling the court: “Looking after the house just got on top of us. The dog belongs to my step-daughter and the cat we wanted to keep is 13 years old, and we’ve had her since she was a kitten.
“Once they’ve passed on, we won’t get any more animals, but we really want to keep those. I’m giving the snake to my friend in north Wales who owns over 100 snakes.
“I would like to apologise to the council and to the RSPCA for the state of the house.”
The Alkers were disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years and will have their animals forfeited and taken by the RSPCA.
The couple were issued with community orders, where they will have to complete a 10 day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and 70 hours of unpaid work over the next year.
They also had to pay prosecution costs of £300, as well as a £60 victim surcharge.
This week, Mr Alker took to the internet to give his side of the story.
He said: “The house started to get into a mess last year. My wife suffers with major depression and was coming home from work, eating then going to bed; she would spend all her spare time in bed. I found it hard to look after her, the house and the animals so things became worse as I have problems with my knees and back.
“On two occasions we nearly split up so one day we sat down and had a chat. We decided to move house and find homes for the cats that we had and just have the dog, which belongs to her daughter, and the 13-year-old cat we have had since a kitten. Nat would start looking for a house and I would start to look for homes for the cats.
“I took three to Woking but that was it, I couldn’t find any more homes. I went online for cat rescue places, all I found initially was a waiting list – I didn’t need that, I needed the cats to go ASAP. I came across the Cat Action Trust , who never answered their phone so I went down to pay them a visit, but couldn’t find them. They never returned my calls or messages I left them. In the meantime Nat had found us a house, so we moved but couldn’t take the cats with us.
“As we had a couple of months left it gave me time to keep looking for homes for the cats. The cats had to stay in the old house but we went up there every day to feed them and check on them. They were not neglected, the cats were making a mess everywhere during the six weeks.”
He continued: “I found the Cats Protection League online and, before I could get hold of them, the R S P C A turned up. A lot o f the mess was made by the RSPCA trying to catch the cats – everything got thrown around.
“I’m not saying the house was tidy; it was cluttered and untidy, but most of the mess was made after we moved. Now we have a nice house and things are looking positive for us.
“One guarantee I can give is that the animals were not neglected, they were fed and watered daily and that they would have only been there for another week or so.
“I feel I have to put our side of the story across as you only read one side. If you have read all of this then thanks for reading.”
At the end of the statement, Mr Alker added: “When the magistrate asked what the condition of the animals was, he was told they were in good condition and gave them a clean bill of health.”
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