RSPCA inspectors were overcome with the smell of urine and faeces when they raided rubbish-strewn homes containing 24 dogs and cats in Accrington.

Animal welfare officers moved in at the homes of Malcolm Ogden and Catherine Allsagar after a photo was sent to the charity of a dead dog in Ogden's bathroom, Burnley magistrates were told.

Later it emerged Allsagar may have sent the picture, amid concerns over one of her dogs being kept there.

Christopher Wyatt, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said a warrant was obtained for Ogden’s house in Frederick Street.

“The property was disgusting, with a horrendous smell coming from rubbish which was piled up,” said Mr Wyatt.

Vet Shaun Taylor, who was called in, said the four dogs found there, in separate rooms, would have suffered, among the urine and faeces left piled up there.

Within days the RSPCA received a referral from Manchester Dog’s Home, after five cats had been brought in for cremation by Allsagar.

Two of the animals had been cremated by the time an inspector arrived but the three remaining bodies were all found to be dirty and unkempt, with lesions on their paws and bellies.

Mr Wyatt said this led the RSPCA to apply for a warrant to search Allsagar’s then-home in Elizabeth Street.

Charity officials found 20 dogs and cats in similar 'appalling' conditions there, with two dogs being kept in cramped crates in one room, which had been wired shut and kept against a wall.

Mr Wyatt said there were also caskets containing the ashes of seven cats in a lounge.

Interviewed by the RSPCA later, Ogden told officers he had to live in the conditions found at his home, so the animals had to also.

Ben Leech, defending Ogden, said: “The probation service is working with adult social services to address his living circumstances as there are serious and significant concerns about his ability to look after and care for himself.”

And regarding Allsagar, Mr Leech said there was also a case for social services intervention in her personal life. She had undergone periods of psychiatric treatment and care.

The court heard Allsagar was effectively Ogden’s carer and this arrangement could not continue in future because of their own individual circumstances.

Ogden pleaded guilty to two animal welfare offences, relating to his domestic conditions and a failure to provide clean water for four dogs.

Allsagar, now of Richmond Road, Accrington, pleaded guilty to five animal welfare offences and two of causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

Magistrates adjourned the case for sentence at Blackburn on May 25 and warned them jail was an option.