Inside squalid flat where cruel yob left two cats for nine days

29 April 2024 , 08:53

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Poor moggies Daisy and tabby Mustafa were found emaciated and dehydrated by a shocked RSPCA inspector (Image: RSPCA/SWNS)

A yob who left his cats in his squalid flat for nine days with little food and no water has been banned from keeping animals.

Rubbish and faeces covered the floors in Reece Glossop's filthy home. Poor moggies, black-and-white Daisy and tabby cat Mustafa, were found by a shocked RSPCA inspector. When Glossop was questioned about the cats, he replied they were "looking after themselves".

The cats were rushed to the vet and Mustafa received emergency treatment for a heart murmur triggered by stress. Glossop, 24, from Wetherby, Yorkshire, was found guilty in his absence of an Animal Welfare Act offence at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court. He was banned from keeping animals for three years, told to do 20 hours unpaid work and given a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Glossop left his pet cats in his squalid home for weeks with little food and no water (RSPCA/SWNS)

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 and costs of £200. The court heard Glossop left his flat over the Christmas and New Year period last year. He left them alone with little food and no water between December 24 and January 6, 2023.

RSPCA Inspector Emma Ellis said there was a strong smell of ammonia in the communal area outside the flat when she attended on January 11. She asked him about the welfare of the cats and he said he left for London because of family issues and claimed "someone was supposed to be looking after them".

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Inspector Ellis said: "He said he came back on December 28 to check on the cats, but he had to return to London and then he came back again on January 6. When I asked who was looking after the cats during that time he replied, 'they were looking after themselves'." Glossop left food in a bowl in the living room, but there was no water provided.

The awful conditions inside Reece Glossop's home (RSPCA/SWNS)

There were cat faeces behind the doors while the rooms were strewn with rubbish. The court heard Glossop had been diagnosed with ADHD and suffered from psychosis. Before committing the offence he had received therapy for a personality disorder during his time at a psychiatric unit.

Rom Preston-Ellis