Hammond – who looked after cons at a top security jail – was rumbled after one collie escaped and killed a farmer's sheep in a field nearby. RSPCA inspectors discovered the dogs had grown aggressive, were locked into rooms or roaming Hammond's overgrown four-acre garden in Northall, Bucks.
Hammond did not even know how many dogs she had – saying: "About 30 to 35."
Janita Patel, prosecuting, said RSPCA officers were called to the cottage to investigate.
She said: "As the RSPCA inspector walked up to the house dogs kept appearing going in and out of bushes and seemed very nervous.
"There was faeces everywhere and the garden was very overgrown.
"She described it as an unbelievable sight and couldn't believe dogs and their owner were still living there."
Hammond, a full-time warder at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, said she lost count as the dogs' breeding got out of control.
Aylesbury magistrates heard the only room not covered in excrement was her bedroom.
Hammond, who has lived alone in the property for 30 years, admitted two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs, one count of keeping 11 dogs in filthy and unhygienic conditions, one count of keeping 47 dogs in various unhygienic outdoor conditions and a fifth charge of causing unnecessary suffering to sheep.
She has been bailed and is due to be sentenced in October.
Source: thesun
