'Cruel' woman chemically burns mice to death with bleach and boiling water
Carys Ann Roberts was given a suspended prison sentence after the wild mice were found to have suffered severe burns - she apologised for an 'error of judgement'
A cruel woman used bleach and boiling water to kill wild mice living in a wheelie bin, a court heard. Carys Ann Roberts, 28, told workmates of her plan to exterminate the mice and was begged by colleagues not to go through with it.
But Roberts caused the creatures "serious pain" as she poured half a bottle of bleach over them into the wheelie bin and then emptied a kettle of boiling water. The RSPCA said the animals were burned to death and that Roberts later bagged up their bodies and put them out for binmen to collect. Roberts of Gorslas, Llanelli, pleaded guilty to one offence under the Animal Welfare Act.
A court heard that Roberts had messaged her work colleagues on a WhatsApp group to say what she was about to do and despite them asking her not to, she still went ahead and killed the mice. The hearing was told she could have reported the mice to a pest control company to ensure the animals were humanely euthanized and that another colleague offered to release them elsewhere.
Roberts was reported to police who in turn informed the RSPCA and she was arrested on cruelty offences. Llanelli Magistrates Court heard she apologised for her "error of judgement".
An independent expert veterinary report said the boiling water would have caused "severe burns" and would result in "serious pain" to the mice. The report added: "If the burns are extensive and involve the majority of the skin surface then they are liable to be fatal.
"Equally depending on the quantity of water poured into the bin the rodents may potentially have drowned which would also have caused them pain, distress and suffering." It added that the bleach would have also caused "chemical burns" to the rodents.
Roberts was handed an 18 week suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. She was also disqualified from keeping all animals for seven years and ordered to pay £400 costs.
Speaking after the sentence, RSPCA Inspector Keith Hogben said: "All animals - big and small - deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. These mice would have suffered greatly and would have died from this intentional action.
"There had been an offer to release them and she had been advised not to do what she did - however other measures were not sought and sadly these mice suffered unnecessarily."
According to the RSPCA, a total of 51,505 complaints of alleged animal cruelty were investigated and closed in 2021. Some 751 convictions were secured in court, up 19.4 percent from the 629 in 2020.
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