A WOMAN has been banned from keeping certain animals after inspectors found some covered in urine and infested with lice at her north Hampshire farm.

Carolyn Shires, 58, has been banned from keeping goats, llamas, equines and pigs for nearly five years, having been found guilty of three offences under the Animal Welfare Act, after a trial at Aldershot Magistrates' Court.

She pleaded guilty to three other offences, related to the environment at Highfield Farm, Odiham, at the start of a three-day trial.

The court heard inspectors from Hampshire County Council Trading Standards visited the farm, off the A287 Farnham Road, on April 24 last year.

They found two underweight Poitou donkeys, and an old Angora goat that struggled to walk more than a couple of steps before collapsing. The carcass of a pony was also found in a barn with other animals. The Angora goat had to be put down, while the donkeys were taken away to recover.

Anna Harrison, a vet from the Donkey Sanctuary, who also took part in the inspection, told the trial that she saw one of the Poitou donkeys, called Voyou, lying on its side on a dirty bed of straw with no food or water in his reach.

It was so skinny that his bones were visible through his skin and he had started to use fat stores within his body, she said.

Another donkey, called Croissant, was infested with lice and was rubbing himself against a mechanical digger in his pen.

Miss Harrison said: “There was a lack of fat and muscle, his skin was drawn tightly over his skeleton. It doesn't get much worse.”

She said the Angora goat was skinny, covered with faeces and struggled to walk.

Giving evidence, Shires said she thought the donkeys were growing through a “gangly” phase, and added the goat had a healthy appetite.

She also said she had struggled to pay back a £100,000 loan and the farm was repossessed by the bank not long after the inspection.

Edward Elton, prosecuting, said Shires kept a large number of animals at the farm, including between 80 to 100 horses, 12 donkeys, six Angora goats, geese, pigs, rhea and llamas.

He said: “She had more animals than she could care for properly and those that needed the care the most did not get what they needed.”

Passing sentence, District Judge Philip Gillibrand said Shires “turned a blind eye to what would have been obvious to any responsible carer”.He sentenced Shires, of Ball and Wicket Lane, Farnham, Surrey, to a 12-month community order with 250 hours unpaid work and £5,232 costs.

The banning order will last until Shires' 63 rd birthday, on April 20, 2019. It was suspended for 28 days so that she can sell her remaining animals.

After the trial, Councillor Roy Perry, leader of Hampshire County Council, said: “This prosecution, brought by our Trading Standards officers, sends a strong message that neglect of farm animals is viewed as a serious breach of the law by the courts.”