AN RSPCA inspector has told of the moment he discovered scores of dying or dead animals in a filthy Boscombe flat.

Insp Patrick Bailey joined a raid at a property in Hamilton Road in November last year after concerns for guinea pigs kept in a shed were reported.

After finding 30 of the creatures in appalling conditions - as well as a further 18 animals of different species in the same shed - entry was forced to a flat. The property was in darkness and without electricity. As Insp Bailey panned a torch around the address, he realised it was filled with loosely-stacked cages.

Many of the animals inside had been left without food or water for at least a week. In total, 196 animals were found. Some 61 died.

Charmaine Collins, 28, admitted six charges relating to the care of the animals at Poole Magistrates' Court. She was banned from keeping any pet for a decade.

Speaking after the hearing, Insp Bailey said: "I've been an inspector for almost 10 years and I've never seen anything like it.

"We were called out to a report of some dead guinea pigs in a shed. We had absolutely no idea of the scale of it."

Of the 30 guinea pigs in the shed, many were already dead. All eventually died.

Insp Bailey said: "By the time we went into the property itself, it was the evening. It was dark and there was no electricity in the flat, so we were doing everything by torchlight initially.

"When I walked in, the first thing that really hit me was the smell. It was just ammonia.

"My eyes and the back of my throat were stinging. I also noticed lots of flies buzzing around.

"Then I realised there were cages everywhere. They were stacked as high as my head, and I'm six feet tall."

Each room of the two-bed flat, except the bathroom, was filled with cages. Many of the creatures inside were dying.

Animals including a "convulsing" rabbit were euthanised at the flat.

Insp Bailey said: "Many of the animals were emaciated and dehydrated.

"Their bedding was saturated, and in some cases going mouldy."

Collins, who once began a degree in veterinary nursing, had started an animal breeding business called Fairytales with a friend.

The friend had backed out around a fortnight before the dead animals were discovered.

David Hurley, mitigating, told the court Collins "failed to cope with her escalating problems".

"She was overwhelmed due to her mental health issues and effectively she shut herself off from it and allowed it to happen," he said.

"She suffered an acute breakdown and clearly did not act responsibility towards those animals."

The defendant was sentenced to a 12-month community order and 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days. She was also ordered to pay £250 costs and an £80 surcharge and banned from keeping any animal for the next 10 years.