Leeds man abandoned his cats without care for nine days in mouldy faeces-filled flat

Reece Glossop, of Wharfedale Lawns, Wetherby, was found guilty in his absence of one offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 after initially missing his court hearing.

The 23-year-old appeared for his sentencing at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court on April 11, where he was banned from keeping animals for three years as well as ordered to complete 20 hours of unpaid work and 15 Rehabilitation Activity Days as part of a 12-month community order.

The court heard that Glossop had left his flat for a trip to London over the Christmas and New Year period in 2022-2023, leaving his two cats, a black and white female named Daisy and a male tabby cat named Mustafa, having to fend for themselves in a flat littered with rubbish.

When the RSPCA attended the flat, they found the cats were left without a suitable toilet area with faeces piled up.

RSPCA inspector Emma Ellis said in a statement to the court that there had been a strong smell of ammonia in the communal area outside the flat when she visited on January 11 last year.

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There, she met Glossop, who was at the property at the time, and told her he was cleaning the flat. When asked about the welfare of his cats, Glossop said he had left on 24 December to go to London because of family issues and claimed “someone was supposed to be looking after them”.

Emma 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 had left a bowl of food for the cats in the living room, but not provided any water. Although both Daisy and Mustafa were in normal body condition, it was found that Mustafa had a heart murmur which could have been caused by the stress of being left unattended for a long period of time.

When the littered flat was inspected there were cat faeces behind the flat door and an area behind the living room door was covered with mouldy faeces.

Mitigating, the court was told that Glossop has been diagnosed with ADHD and suffered from psychosis and that he had received therapy for a personality disorder during his time at a psychiatric unit before committing the offence.

He was also ordered to pay a  victim surcharge of £114 and costs of £200.