A 70-year-old woman has received an eight-month custodial sentence for animal abuse charges imposed on over 50 animals residing in her animal sanctuary, which the judge described as a “house of horrors”.

Pat Edwards, of Deise Animal Sanctuary, Knocknaree, Ballymacarbry, Co. Waterford, was sentenced at Clonmel District Court on November 26, after pleading guilty to causing suffering to and/or endangering the health and welfare of a variety of wild and domesticated animals in residence.

In his sentencing, judge Brian O’Shea awarded the animal sanctuary operator two consecutive prison sentences of four months, a fine of €1,500 and a 20 year disqualification from owning animals, according to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA).

The court heard evidence from superintending veterinary inspector with the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM), Ann Quinn, who recounted first visiting Deise animal sanctuary on February 23, 2023, alongside DAFM colleague, veterinary inspector Catherine O’Brien, and ISPCA senior inspector, Alice Lacey.

Quinn told the court that serious and prolific animal welfare abuse was observed in all areas of the holding on a long-term basis, and that there was a build-up of debris, rubbish and building materials on site, which posed as health hazards to the several animals in shelter.

The following day, DAFM officials served Edwards an Animal Health and Welfare Notice which stipulated that no additional animals were to be taken in, that existing animals be provided with appropriate vet treatment, housing, and care, and that records be made available to officials.

During a subsequent visit by DAFM and ISPCA personnel on February 28, 2023, it was determined that the welfare situation was at a critical level and a total of 32 animals were surrendered to the ISPCA as a result.

Deise animal sanctuary

In evidence, senior inspector Lacey told the court how these animals included a Harris hawk with a brass ring embedded in the skin of its leg, a number of buzzards with long-standing injuries, and a pigeon with an open fracture to its wing.

She also described worm riddled puppies whose coats were contaminated with faecal matter alongside cats with extensive matting to their fur.

Veterinary examinations conducted on the animals removed from the holdings revealed a number of other health challenges, which led to the subsequent euthanisation of six of them on humane grounds.

These included the pigeon with its bone exposed and five buzzards with fractures which had been left untreated to the point where rehabilitation was no longer a possibility.

Further inspections to the sanctuary in March and April 2023 revealed repeated failures on the part of Edwards to comply with the written notice, and on May 12, a further 17 animals were removed from the premises, including 11 dogs, two fox cubs and four pigs with severe skin conditions.

Throughout these visits, Edwards was also given consistent orders to improve the accommodation for a fox named Shadow, who had been confined to a small barren pen for six years since he was taken in as a cub.

However, when the premises was inspected again on June 30, 2023, no improvements had been made and the pen was discovered to be completely overgrown with nettles. The fox was eventually seized and placed in a specialist wildlife facility.

Lacey told the court that an inspection conducted in the week prior to the hearing found that new animals had since been admitted to Deise sanctuary, despite the notice in place, and that the animals’ living conditions remained well below standard.

One dog had been euthanised by a vet since that visit, Lacey added.

“A sanctuary, in its most basic meaning, is meant to be a refuge, a safe-haven from persecution or danger.

“The majority of animals entering this sanctuary would have most likely come from situations in the past where their needs were not being met, where they were ill-treated, neglected and in some cases, injured.

“To then see some of those very animals subjected to further ill-treatment, a lack of urgent veterinary care and a complete disregard for their physical and mental health and well-being, is an extreme injustice both for the animals involved in this case and for animal welfare as a whole.

“It was a complete breach of the trust that they placed in the person responsible for ensuring their welfare,” she explained.

Having heard the evidence, judge O’Shea said that there was “obvious neglect with veterinary level issues left untreated”, and that the offending was at the upper end of the scale in terms of gravity, describing it as “shameful” and “egregious” in addition to “a breach of trust”.

Edwards has since made an appeal against the severity of the sentence, following the verdict.

Deise animal sanctuary

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