A WOMAN who was banned from looking after animals for 15 years was found with five dogs in her Barrow home.

Stacey Louise Dick admitting breaching the court order at South Cumbria Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. The order was made in 2015 after she left four cats to starve to death.

The 25-year-old had been living at Cameron Street when police found the dogs on Tuesday May 8 earlier this year.

Amy Watkin, defending, said: "This was not a wilful breach of the order, she just did not properly understand the conditions.

"She knew she could not own dogs, but because the dogs belong to the person whose house she lived in, she accepts she is guilty.

"These dogs are well looked after and well loved, and there is no suggestion of any neglect or malnurishment. No harm has come to them since she has been living there.

"She never had any involvement in their care and was not left alone with them.

"When their owner left the house, so did the defendant."

Dick was jailed for 18 weeks in April 2015 for causing unnecessary suffering to animals after abandoning the cats, called Rosie, Mojo, Daisy and Cheryl.

Speaking at the time, RSPCA prosecutor Steven Marsh explained how the animals were decomposing, with some missing eyes and riddled with fleas and maggots.

The neglect occurred between June and September 2014.

Dick returned to South Cumbria Magistrates' Court in Barrow on July 25, where the court was told she suffers from anxiety and depression.

She was handed a 12 month community order and tasked with completing 50 hours of unpaid work.

District judge Gerald Chalk also ordered Dick to pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £85.