Cruelty pair flouted ban; Animals found in wardrobe.

Byline: ROB KENNEDY

A COUPLE banned from keeping animals were found hoarding hamsters, gerbils and rabbits in a wardrobe.

Paul Gibson and Nadine Woodward were disqualified from having pets after they were convicted of cruelty to their cat.

When the RSPCA went round to a house in Byker, Newcastle, to investigate a separate complaint, they found the pair were living at the address.

Gibson and Woodward denied having any pets, but Insp Helen Bestwick, from the animal charity, could smell sawdust and asked to be shown round.

She asked them to open a wardrobe and found two cages with a hamster and a gerbil in, while another hamster was in a different wardrobe, a large rabbit was hidden in a box behind the wardrobe, and more rabbits were found hidden behind their settee. Now the couple, whose bans were due to expire in October, have been disqualified from keeping pets for a further two years.

Denise Jackman, prosecuting at Gosforth Magistrates' Court, said: "Insp Bestwick got a call saying there were animals at the property, but when she asked them they told her they had no animals.

"The inspector could smell sawdust and asked to be shown round. Inside the bedroom she requested the defendant open the wardrobe, and two hamster cages were on top of each other with a hamster and a gerbil inside. She asked Gibson if there were any other animals in the property and he said 'no' but there was another hamster in a cage in a second wardrobe.

"Behind the wardrobe she found a plastic container with a large rabbit inside and there was another container behind the sofa with large rabbits inside." Gibson, 31, and Woodward, 25, of Chirton Wynd, Byker, were each banned from having animals for three years in 2006 after causing unnecessary suffering to their cat.

Now they have both admitted breaching that ban and been banned for a further two years, given conditional discharges and ordered to pay pounds 200 costs.

Gibson told investigators he "loves animals as much as anyone else does" and said he put them in the wardrobe because he knew the RSPCA would take them off him.

After the case, Insp Bestwick said: "Anyone who is subject to a ban for animal cruelty must abide by that ban. While the rabbits, hamsters and gerbils were not being mistreated, the cages were too small and dirty." To report animal cruelty to the RSPCA, call 0300 1234 999..