A HAMPSHIRE couple and their young child lived in conditions of utter squalor for months with excrement smeared on walls and rubbish all over the floor.

Neighbours finally called in the authorities when the smell got so bad they thought someone had died inside the flat.

Yet the couple were only charged with animal cruelty offences for causing suffering to their cat.

So horrific was the stench coming from this Southampton flat that neighbours said they retched as they passed the front door.

When environmental health officers began the task of cleaning up the squalid mess it took them ten days to complete the task.

Now the two adults responsible for creating this mess have been banned from keeping animals for life after the cat was found by RSPCA officers to be infested with fleas, seriously undernourished, balding and desperately ill.

Neighbours of the couple have expressed their concerns that the child, who the Daily Echo are not identifying, was even allowed to stay in the flat.

The problems with the ground floor property came to light when others living in the apartment block reported the foul odour coming from the flat to Southampton's environmental health officers.

They in turn reported it to the housing association, who rent out the property, but when the couple living in the home refused to let the association in, court action was started to evict the pair.

Bailiffs went to the property last July and forced their way in, shortly followed by RSPCA inspectors called to care for the cat.

What greeted them was described by one RSPCA inspector as one of the worst scenes she had ever seen in her life.

The cat, which the couple had not even named, was almost completely hairless, bony, severely undernourished at just 1.7kg and covered in fleas.

Inspectors also noted no food or water had been left out for the animal and its litter tray was being used as a toy store for the couple's young child.

In April this year the mother pleaded guilty to one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a cat and was banned from keeping animals for life, fined £449 and given a three-year conditional discharge.

In mitigation her solicitor told Southampton Magistrates' Court her client had only taken the cat in a week before after feeding it on the street.

She also said she had realised the cat was suffering, but did not think it was in pain and could not afford to take it to a vet anyway.

This week her estranged husband was found guilty by magistrates at trial of also causing unnecessary suffering to a cat and was banned for life from keeping animals.

He was also handed a two-year conditional discharge and fined £200 in costs.

RSPCA inspector Chris Coleman, who found the cat, said: "It was an appalling, disgusting and smelly scene that greeted us.

"It looked like an elderly tortoiseshell cat, when if fact she was black and white and only about two.

"The fleas were so evident because of the lack of hair that you could see them everywhere, and when she opened her mouth you could even see them crawling across her gums.

"I have never seen anything like it before - she was anaemic, malnourished, and filthy. I simply found it impossible to believe they didn't realise how sick she was."

However Inspector Coleman added that since then the cat had made a full recovery, and thanks to staff at the RSPCA backed Stubbington Ark, she has now been re-homed and is doing well.

Meanwhile one of the neighbours who raised the alarm said his concern had been for the welfare of the couple's then 18-month-old son.

He said: "The smell made my stomach churn every time I walked past.

"It got so bad that I called the police because I thought somebody had died.

"I was also concerned because I had not seen the woman and her child for a few weeks."

The neighbour, who did not want to be named, said that he contacted Southampton City Council's environmental health team several times, but they failed to act initially.

At first he said he was told to simply put an air freshener outside in the main corridor to alleviate the stench.

"The smell went on for about four months and I was concerned for the child and couldn't believe it was staying in the flat."

A spokesman for the housing association said it had cost more than £1,000 to clean up the apartment.

He added: "It took 10 days to clear and clean the property before a contractor could move in to prepare it for re-letting."

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