Cat died from dehydration after being left without food or water, court hears

Nation.Cymru staff

A woman has been disqualified from keeping all animals for five years after a cat was found dead in a cage without food or water in a rubbish-filled property.

Nadine Jade Martell-Marshall of Caemaen Street, Abercynon, pleaded guilty to one offence under the Animal Welfare Act.

The offence was that she caused unnecessary suffering to a female tortoiseshell cat named Tigger, by failing to provide any food or any water for a period of time.

She was sentenced on Wednesday (June 10) at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court to a 24 month community order with 25 days Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and was ordered to pay £1,086 alongside a victim surcharge of £114.

She has also been disqualified from keeping animals for five years.

In a written statement provided to the court, RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer (ARO) Lauren Perry, said she attended an address in Barry on 24 March 2025.

Lawful access was granted for ARO Perry to enter the property to retrieve a cat which had been found inside and she said as soon as she walked in she could smell urine.

She said: “The property was full of rubbish, and there were empty cat boxes of food everywhere, cat faeces all over the property, the cat litter trays inside the kitchen and living room area were full of faeces, lots of flies were also present, and the property also had fleas everywhere.

“I went inside the bedroom there was a crate and inside the crate was a deceased cat, the cat was a Torrieshell coloured cat.

“I could see it was already deceased and the cat was lying inside the crate surrounded by rubbish. There was a bed available but it was soiled with cat faeces, flies and fleas. Inside the crate there was no food or water available for the cat.

“I retrieved the body from the crate but there was a white item of clothing which was tied to the crate and I had to untie this and unlock the crate to retrieve the cat.

“I could see that the cat’s left eye was partially closed, the body of the cat was solid and cold and the cat’s body was covered in live fleas.”

Tigger’s body was examined by a vet who said Tigger was in a reasonable body condition, with no obvious injuries and a large number of live fleas all over her body. There was no obvious cause of death and a post mortem was carried out.

Lack of access to water 

In a written statement, the vet said: “The report concludes that, with the history of how she was found and the full post mortem examination, the most likely cause of death is acute and complete water and food restriction, however with the lack of major chronic food restriction as in starvation the death from dehydration with lack of access to water is the most likely as this can occur over a period of as little as three days.

“By securing the animal without water or food, the owner has failed in their duty of care to provide food and water and this has led directly to the animals death with a period of severe suffering of at least two to three days before death.”

In mitigation it was heard that she gave full acceptance that she failed Tigger.

RSPCA Deputy Chief Inspector Gemma Black, who led the investigation, said: “This case was extremely harrowing and heartbreaking and our thoughts go to Tigger.

“Every animal deserves to be treated with kindness and respect and if you have a pet you are responsible for making sure they are happy and healthy – with water and food being a basic provision for any animal. We would urge anyone struggling to seek help.”

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