Couple banned from keeping animals after abandoning starving snake in cold, dark flat without food or water
A couple have been banned from keeping animals for 10 years after abandoning their severely malnourished corn snake in an empty flat, where he was left without food, water, heating or lighting.
Stephen David Brown, 53, and Annette Harris, 37, were found guilty of an animal welfare offence after their snake, Frank, was discovered at a former home at Peak House in the Glossop area.
Frank was found in appalling condition after the property had been vacated around three weeks earlier.
An RSPCA animal rescue officer attended on 8 October 2024 after an estate agent raised concerns about a snake which had apparently been abandoned following the end of a tenancy.
The flat was cold and dark. Inside, Frank was discovered in a vivarium with no food or water and no functioning heat or lighting.
The corn snake was severely underweight and had developed a triangular body shape associated with serious malnutrition.
Veterinary examinations subsequently revealed the extent of his condition. Frank was suffering from non-regenerative anaemia and showed an immune response consistent with infection.
Evidence indicated that his starvation had been ongoing for considerably longer than the three weeks the property had been empty, with his condition estimated to have developed over approximately four months.
Frank initially appeared to respond to treatment. He gained weight and was eventually discharged into foster care.
However, despite efforts to save him, his health later deteriorated and he died.
A post-mortem examination identified chronic wasting and terminal septicaemia, as well as iron accumulation in his liver, lipofuscin in his kidneys and a bacterial kidney infection.
Brown and Harris, who were reported as living in Bollington at the time of the court proceedings, were subsequently found guilty of one animal welfare offence.
On 31 July 2026, both were given an 18-month community order and disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years.
Their sentences also included 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a nine-month drug rehabilitation requirement, while they were each fined £180.
The court heard mitigation relating to bereavement and remorse.
RSPCA Inspector Ben Cottle-Shaw described the case as “deeply upsetting” and stressed that animal owners have both a legal and moral responsibility to ensure their animals receive appropriate care.
Frank had initially survived being found after enduring prolonged starvation and being abandoned in a cold, unlit vivarium. Despite gaining weight following his rescue, the damage to his health ultimately proved fatal.
