A SENIOR RSPCA inspector has described “disgusting, dirty” conditions with an “overpowering” stench of faeces and urine at a family-run animal charity.

Deputy chief inspector Kirsty Withnall visited Crunchy’s Animal Rescue in Longworth and found animals in appalling conditions.

Angela Russell, her father, brother, three children, niece and carer are all jointly charged with 16 counts of animal welfare offences.

Yesterday the inspector told Bicester Magistrates’ Court she was immediately concerned when she arrived at the premises with her colleague Luke Hughes on January 20 last year.

She said family members refused to admit them to the property, saying Angela Russell was in hospital.

“I was immediately concerned because the smell was completely overpowering,” she said. “It was the smell of dog faeces. I could hear a large number of dogs barking.

“By the front door there was a pony eating out of a wheelie bin. There was a large number of cars in what would normally be the drive area, but was just mud, and the pony was among the cars.”

Police community support officers with her called in police officers and they used their powers to get the RSPCA on to the site.

Angela Russell’s daughter Kirsty then appeared to have an asthma and panic attack and her sister Louise collapsed in the mud. An ambulance was called to treat them both.

Insp Withnall said: “I’m not medically trained but I didn’t see there was a problem.”

The inspectors, who were joined by colleagues, including the area’s chief inspector, toured the site documenting all the animals they found.

Insp Withnall said: “The kennels were covered in faeces, the smell was disgusting. It was overpowering. It’s very difficult to describe. In the back of your throat it makes you feel sick.”

She said it appeared as if food had been thrown through the bars, landing on the excrement and urine-covered ground.

A vet examined the animals as Insp Withnall kept a record.

Police then told the Russells that they were seizing a large number of the animals.

Angela Russell, 44, her father Frederick, 81, her brother Peter, 40, her children Robert, 24, Louise, 22, and Kirsty, 20, all live at the site, in Faringdon Road, Longworth.

Her niece, Abigail McHugh, 20, of Pendennis Road, Swindon, Wilts, and carer Daniel Bunyan, 24, of The Court, Abingdon, are co-accused.

All face 16 charges, including counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a range of animals, and counts of containing various animals in overcrowded, or hazardous conditions.

They have either played down their involvement with Crunchy’s, claimed some of the animals had not been with them for long, or pointed the finger at the RSPCA, claiming it brought some of the animals to the site just days earlier.

The trial continues.