A former GP has been disqualified from keeping cats and dogs for two years after letting her pets live in squalor at her home.

Nicola Stirk, 63, from near Hartlepool, ignored warnings about the state of the property where a Doberman, a Borzoi and two cats were living before they were removed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).

At a sentencing hearing at Teesside Magistrates’ Court, Stirk was also given a 15-month community order after admitting she had failed to meet the animals’ needs and provide them with a suitable environment.

Magistrates were told RSPCA Inspector Rowena Proctor went to the property on February 3 after concerns had been raised with the charity.

An RSPCA photograph of conditions at former GP Nicola Stirk's home.

placeholder image — An RSPCA photograph of conditions at former GP Nicola Stirk's home.

In her written statement to the court the officer said: “Upon entering the front door, the passageway was littered with faeces and rubbish.

“The sofa had been chewed by the dogs to the point it was unusable. The floors throughout, bar one small area in the living room, were completely covered in rubbish, faeces and urine.

“The pathway through to the kitchen and the kitchen itself was the same, faeces in almost every single place you could look and every surface and area was just filthy.

“The dogs lived downstairs with a baby gate to prevent them going upstairs and the cats, I was informed, lived upstairs.

The crowded conditions inside Nicola Stirk's home.

“The spare bedroom had rubbish a couple of feet high so wasn’t usable at all. The bathroom was filthy throughout. A litter tray was in there which it seemed the cats were still trying to toilet near to, creating a built up carpet of faeces around it.

“The bath appeared to have not been used for quite some time and was black and brown with dirt. The toilet, I suspect, did not flush. The smell was dreadful.”

It was explained to Stirk that the animals would need to be removed from the address because of the poor living conditions and they would stay in RSPCA care if a vet agreed their needs were not being met.

A vet who subsequently examined them and viewed a video and images from the house agreed and said the animals were suffering or likely to suffer if their circumstances didn’t change.

Mabel the Doberman has made a recovery from her ordeal.

The court was told Stirk, of Eight Houses, in Hutton Henry, had previously been warned by the RSPCA when conditions had initially started to deteriorate.

All of the animals were signed over into the care of the RSPCA by Stirk. The cats, Charlie and Maddy, made a good recovery and were rehomed by the RSPCA’s Coventry & District Branch.

Mabel the Doberman and Anya the Borzoi were looked after at the charity’s Felledge Animal Centre, near Chester-le-Street, where Anya needed extensive rehabilitation.

Mabel was quickly rehomed and Anya now has a home lined up.

Anya the Borzoi will shortly be rehomed.

Stirk was also ordered to pay costs of £900 and a £114 victim surcharge.

In mitigation, the court was told she was suffering from mental health issues and wanted to get help.

Magistrates said their aim was to get her support so she could lead a better quality of life and they emphasised they wanted Stirk to be signposted to services who could assist her.