Littlehampton man given pet ban after drowning guinea pigs

Worthing Magistrates’ Court heard David Ellis, of Courtwick Lane, drowned two guinea pigs in the bath, and put their bodies out with the rubbish.

Ellis was banned for life from keeping animals, apart from goldfish, to which he was deemed not to be a risk.

Speaking after the hearing, RSPCA inspector Tony Pritchard said: “We had a phone call basically saying that two guinea pigs had been found in a bag in a communal bin.

“The weather had been dry but they were soaking.

“We had a post-mortem examination carried out which confirmed they had drowned.

“He told us he had filled up the bath in his flat and held one of them under, then got the other one and held that under.”

He added this was “obviously unacceptable behaviour”.

“The guinea pigs were made to suffer horribly.

“There are numerous ways to re-home pets and if you really can’t they can be taken to a vet and put down humanely.

“We are happy with the result because our priority was to get him banned from keeping animals.

“He has some goldfish which he has been allowed to keep because they were not considered at risk.”

Ellis was also handed a one-year conditional discharge, and may have to pay the court costs.