Inside ‘house of horrors’ where pet owner let cats and hamster starve to death

A woman who left her pets to starve to death after moving to another house less than two miles away kept her home in a horrific condition, photos have revealed.

The decomposing remains of two cats and a hamster were found at Christine Overton’s property in Seghill, Northumberland.

The cats had been unable to reach two large boxes of cat food, and a vet estimated that they had been dead for at least three months.

Overton, 54, avoided prison but was banned from keeping animals for life during a sentencing hearing at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court earlier this month.

The court in North Shields heard how RSPCA Inspector Rowena Proctor had visited Overton’s new address in Allerdean Close, Seaton Delaval, on April 26 last year.

She spoke to Overton about reports she had left animals behind at her previous address after members of the public said they had seen a cat in one of the bedroom windows.

Overton told the Inspector she had previously owned two cats and a hamster, which she had rehomed ‘months ago’ before moving.

The animal charity was given the okay by the police to enter the home legally, where they found heaps of trash.

Proctor recalled: ‘The back garden in particular was littered with rubbish bags with beer cans overflowing. I had to climb over them to get to the rear window.

‘The sill was littered with hundreds of dead baby flies, and I could see that the door leading to the stairs from the sitting room was closed. I was immediately concerned that something might be dead in there.’

Inspectors first found a dead grey hamster, left in its cage with no water and inedible seed husks in the food bowl.

More bin bags were piled up in the kitchen, and there was a strong odour coming from a fridge freezer in the dining room, which was where the flies appeared to be coming from.

One of the bedrooms was bolted from the outside, but when the RSPCA entered, they found it covered in faeces, with empty food and water bowls by the door.

A dead black and white cat called Tom, who was three, was found behind a curtain by the radiator with his fur and flesh missing, and he had no visible eyeballs.

In her evidence, the Inspector described finding the second cat called Oreo, who was two: ‘I went into the second bedroom and the room, although not as quite messy as the previous one, was again littered in faeces with empty food and water bowls by the door, which was previously closed.

‘I found a single cat food pouch which was empty and had teeth marks where a cat had clearly been chewing. I then located a grey and white cat, deceased by the wall, behind a desk.’

The animals were too badly decomposed to carry out a post-mortem. A vet, who reviewed evidence in the case, told the court it was her opinion the cats had been deceased for a minimum of 23 days.

The vet told the court: ‘The effect of the suffering was the unnecessary and avoidable death of the three pets, and no opportunity to alleviate the suffering and save their lives. Death was most likely a result of dehydration and starvation.’

Overton told the RSPCA she hadn’t been back to the house since April 2024 but said other people ‘had keys’ to get in.

She had moved for a fresh start after she was ‘self-medicating’ with alcohol, the court heard. She said she had made arrangements for her pets to be looked after, but accepted it was not adequate.

Overton was found guilty in her absence of one offence contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 on October 31 last year.

On March 6, she was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, with 18 months suspended.

They banned Overton from keeping animals for life. They also ordered her to complete 10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days, 250 hours of unpaid work, and pay £750 in costs.

Following the sentencing hearing, Inspector Proctor said: ‘There is simply no excuse for leaving animals behind to suffer and die like this. The distressing scene I encountered with the police officers who assisted us on the day will stay with us all for a long time.’

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