TWO dog breeders from Belvedere - one a former Crufts judge - have been banned from keeping dogs for two years after inflicting cruelty on their own pets.

Brenda Parmenter, 66, and son Roy, 42, of Parsonage Manorway, Belvedere, appeared before Bexley Magistrates on Monday after pleading guilty to four counts of causing unnecessary suffering.

The court heard four of the pair’s seven dogs were found to be in filthy conditions in steel cages in their home.

RSPCA chief inspector Beth Clements had raided the home following a complaint from a member of the public. She found the animals - all cocker spaniels - had been left to roll in their own faeces and urine and were so starved their spines and other bones could be seen protruding from their skin.

One dog, a tan cocker spaniel called Sam, had an infected ear, open wounds on his face and neck, and had gone blind in one eye because of infection. The dogs were subsequently taken to a vet, who backed up what the RSPCA had found.

The Parmenters told the RSPCA they had not taken the dogs to a vet for four years, and believed they could control the ailments with a powder they had bought. They admitted the dogs were locked up in the cages for at least 12 hours a day, and cited their own ill health as a reason for the neglect.

The court heard Mrs Parmenter had been a dog show judge for more than 25 years, and her son had organised dog shows all his life. Mrs Parmenter had also told the RSPCA she had once judged at Crufts.

They were banned from keeping dogs for two years, fined £100 each and ordered to pay costs of £50 each.

An RSPCA spokesman said: “Because of their experience, we firmly believe they should have taken action at an earlier stage. To claim to be an expert in dogs and then allow them to suffer in this way is unbelievable.”