Owner is spared jail for starving tragic cats

A PET owner who starved two cats to death after locking them in a bedroom has been banned from keeping animals for five years.

- DAMON WILKINSON

Donna Laithwaite, of Wigan, was also given a 20-week suspended prison after being pleading guilty to three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to her cats following an RSPCA prosecution.

The charity say inspectors were called to Laithwaite’s rented home on October 11 after the landlord notified them there was a dead cat in the house.

Animal rescue officer Alison Wilford said: “I went into the property with the landlord and found a slim tabby and white cat. The lounge was cluttered, with empty food bowls on the floor.