TV sanctuary boss banned from keeping pets after 20 found in squalid conditions

The founder of a £1m charity who shared her home with 106 dogs has been banned from keeping animals for life after her pets were found living in “appalling conditions”.

Tamara Lloyd once starred in a Channel 5 documentary about her animal sanctuary, where she spoke of her love of rescuing abandoned dogs.

But she was prosecuted by the RSPCA in 2020 after concerns were raised about welfare at the Alternative Animal Sanctuary in Boston, Lincs.

More than 70 cats, 14 pigs, along with dogs, horses and terrapins were among the beasts being kept in squalid conditions by Lloyd.

Police labelled it as one of the “worst ever cases of animal neglect”.

A total of 14 Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs were found homed in an area described as being dirty, with faeces and urine accumulation and cluttered with debris.

There were also dead rats, overflowing filthy litter trays, stagnant dirty water, and hazards littering the environment. Vets who visited the site said the animals needed to be removed having seen obvious signs of disease and ill health.

The RSPCA said 70 cats they found did not have a suitable place to live, surrounded by urine, faeces and ammonia.

Some had no access to a suitable diet or fresh drinking water, and a boar had a severely in-grown tusk.

The Charity Commission also found the sanctuary had spent just £900,000 on the care of animals from an £8m fund raised by the public over seven years.

Lloyd was convicted of 17 welfare offences and sentenced to a 10-year disqualification order in 2020. But after failing to appeal some of her convictions, she has now been banned from keeping animals for life and ordered to pay £65,000.

Lloyd, who appeared on the Channel 5’s The Woman With 106 Dogs, was also sentenced to eight months in jail, suspended for two years, when she returned to Lincoln Crown Court last week.

An appeal verdict from the court said: “We found that Ms Lloyd prioritised her beliefs about animals’ psychological difficulties above their concrete and obvious physical ailments. She struggled time and time again to accept the pain and suffering of animals in her care.

“She kept next to no records of the animals and any medical treatment they received, so much of what she says is a matter of assertion. Her evidence was wholly unreliable and lacked credibility.”

Later, RSPCA inspector Kate Burris, said: “It’s been a long road to recovery for many animals who were rescued but they are now thriving.”