More than 400 animals will be left without a home after an animal sanctuary has been forced to leave its site.

The owner of Happy Pants Ranch in Newington, near Sittingbourne, says if she cannot relocate before its nine-month notice is up, they will be destroyed.

The charity cares for a variety of species, most of which have special needs including an epileptic pig, blind and deaf dog and three-legged cats.

Amey James, who runs Happy Pants and lives on site, said: “It’s all the misfits that no one else wanted – that’s how we’ve always operated, as a last chance for them.

“Some of these have literally been booked onto the slaughter wagon and we’ve stepped in and said ‘Look we’ll take them’.

“I can’t imagine having to suddenly rehome 450 animals – even if you gave me a year.

“If we can’t move and we can’t stay it would mean the animals would be destroyed and the charity going under and I would lose my house.”

The news comes after a three-year battle with Swale council to turn the use of the land from agricultural to animal rescue.

After the first planning appeal was refused and Happy Pants was issued an eviction notice, Amey appealed – but last night she found out it had been denied.

Now, she has been given nine months to leave the land but says she does not have the funds to relocate.

She said: “It’s been such a tough three years being here but I haven’t had the option to go anywhere else.”

In early 2021, the sanctuary moved from its base at Yelsted to the 20-acre site it remains on now.

Since then, it has been subject to numerous noise complaints from its neighbours.

Amey added: “I’m not precious about this piece of land – this came as a miracle to us in the first place – but if I won the lottery tomorrow I would move.

“I have to try and keep positive and think the universe has a plan for us otherwise I just sit and break down.

“I promised them a home for life – over my dead body will anything happen to these animals.”

A spokesperson for Swale council said: “The Happy Pants Ranch applied for retrospective planning approval in 2021 and after assessing the application against national planning policy and our own local planning policies this was rejected.

“A planning enforcement notice was issued in 2022 to rectify these breaches, in line with our policies.

“The notice was subsequently appealed by the applicant, and an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State dismissed the appeal, upheld our notice - subject to variations - and agreed with our original refusal of planning permission.

“The enforcement notice requires that the mix use of the site stops, and that the land needs to be restored to its original condition before the breaches took place.”