A BRADFORD district woman left her neighbour's dead cat dangling from a tree after it was caught in a snare on her land.

June Kershaw, 77, of Harbour Lodge Farm, Haworth, was convicted at court of causing unnecessary suffering to two cats who died in snares on her land.

The cats, Marley and Frankie, belonged to her neighbour.

At Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court, Mrs Kershaw admitted she did not like her neighbour who had an injunction against her in 2017.

Mrs Kershaw told the court the three snares, which she checked every day, had been in the same positions every spring for the last 14/15 years and had only ever caught rabbits attempting to steal growing vegetables from her garden.

The first cat, Marley, a tabby and white Bengal/Savannah type, was found by Mrs Kershaw on April 26.

Mrs Kershaw told the court she spotted the animal on the branch of a tree while she was hanging her washing out that afternoon and removed the snare.

In court, she said: "I glanced over thinking it was a fox, I was horrified to see it was a cat.

"I could have put it in a bin bag and put it in the bin but I never thought of that."

Mrs Kershaw told the court she was too frightened of her neighbour to tell him or throw the animal over his fence, instead thinking he had a tracker on the cat.

Police attended Mrs Kershaw's house on May 22 to view CCTV footage of the cat dangling from the tree.

When an RSPCA officer asked Mrs Kershaw about the incident, she replied by saying "It is only a cat".

An emotional Mrs Kershaw told the court she was unable to give the interview on July 1 because she was sorting through her late husband's papers.

On why she did not set that certain snare up again, Mrs Kershaw said: "I didn't want to do that again, It was upsetting to see it had caught a cat."

The second cat, Frankie, was found in a snare on July 28.

When police and the RSPCA showed up at Mrs Kershaw's door that day, she told the court: "I was not aware.

"I last checked the night before (July 27) and nothing was in it.

"I would not want to hurt his cats. That would be cruel."

Prosecuting, Charlotte Kenny highlighted that one of her neighbour's cats died in a mint trap on Mrs Kershaw's land in April 2019.

She said: "That should have put her on notice, despite that she continued to set the snares."

Mrs Kershaw and her defence insisted that she did not know her neighbour owned cats, something the magistrates refused to accept.

In her defence, led by James Bourne Martin, Mrs Kershaw said she always liked cats after owning one earlier in her life.

She told the court: "A lover of cats would not allow them to stray. I never let mine stray."

When asked if the traps were improperly set, Mrs Kershaw added: "Only the first trap. It was properly set but the ground was too soft."

Mrs Kenny said Mrs Kershaw had been economic with the truth.

The prosecutor added: "The first cat was caught by an improper snare and she continued to set snares after that first incident.

"She knew that act would have an effect of clearly unnecessary suffering."

After describing the four-hour deliberation as "quite a complicated exercise", the magistrates, chair Carl Davies and Jill Broadbent, found Mrs Kershaw guilty on both charges.

Chair Carl Davies said: "The trap was not properly set as it came from the ground."

He told the court Dr Taylor (vet) said the cats "undoubtedly" suffered in the snares.

Mr Davies added: "You were aware cats could be in the area and set snares in inappropriate places.

"This could have been avoided if you reflected."

Mrs Kershaw was fined £300 per charge and has to pay prosecution costs of £1,300 and a £34 victim surcharge.

Following the verdict, Luke Steele, Executive Director of Wild Moors, said: “We cannot continue to ignore the suffering that snares inflict on our wildlife and the risk they pose to pets which may become entangled in them.

"It's time for landowners to take responsibility and prohibit their use, and for governments to ban snares altogether.”