Man, 28, banned from owning animals for five years after keeping 18 birds in conditions so appalling a vet was reduced to tears.
Brandon Hodge, 28, admitted two charges of animal neglect after police found 18 birds tethered inside tiny cages surrounded by maggot–infested rubbish at a house in Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, in May 2024.
Scottish SPCA inspectors said the smell inside the property was 'overpowering', and that the conditions were among the worst they had ever witnessed.
The birds found included nine varieties of owl, three American kestrels and a red–footed falcon. One bird – a Harris Hawk – was found in such a bad condition that it had to be euthanised.