A NIGHT shift worker who left two kittens in an emaciated state has been banned from keeping animals for three years.

Neighbours alerted the RSPCA after a painfully thin kitten was seen near the Oswaldtwistle home of 44-year-old Sally Capper last April, Burnley magistrates were told.

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And when an inspector from the animal charity turned up at Capper’s property in Stanhill Lane, she discovered a second motionless kitten, which it was feared maybe dead.

Capper admitted to two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to the kittens.

Magistrates imposed a three-year pets disqualification and ordered her to pay £300 court costs.

Christopher Wyatt, representing the RSPCA, told the last hearing that when an inspector, Nina Small, visited Capper’s home, she found one of the emaciated kittens in a neighbour’s garden.

Another could be seen from the porch, lying nearby, and it was unresponsive, leading the inspector to fear for its life, the court heard.

Capper eventually came to the door and agreed to sign the kittens over to the charity.

She claimed she had left food out for them but one had a habit of knocking over their food bowl, which may account for their state.