A DARTMOOR farmer has been banned from keeping dogs after welfare officials found animals living in squalor amid the ashes of burned sheep.

Leon Smith, 63, had promised to improve the conditions in which he kept 13 collies but instead left them with little food and water and living in their own muck. He also kept them in tiny cages in the back of an old police van with no food or water in the middle of summer with a maggot-infested sheep carcass rotting alongside them.

Smith has twice been banned from keeping sheep or cattle and a judge has now extended this to dogs after hearing how the animals were kept in squalor at a smallholding at Meldon.

Smith, of Castleford House, Okehampton, admitted failing to provide a suitable environment for 13 collie dogs on February 14, 2011 and nine on February 16, 2011.

He also admitted six offences of failing to dispose of animal carcasses properly, which related to rotting animals left for the dogs to eat.

Judge Barry Cotter, QC, had delayed sentence for six months in May to allow Smith the chance to improve conditions for the dogs and so avoid a ban.

But at Exeter Crown Court last week he fined him a total of £800 with £500 costs and prohibited him from keeping, breeding, trading in or transporting dogs for ten years. The judge made an exception for Smith's wife's pet dog Betty.

He told Smith: 'I gave you the chance to show you were capable of looking after dogs properly. You have thrown it back in my face.

'Keeping dogs in a van with a rotting sheep carcass in the middle of summer is wholly unacceptable and to do so during the period of a deferred sentence is quite remarkable.

'It proves beyond doubt you are incapable of having the care of dogs and providing them with the proper welfare.'

Mr Sean Brunton, prosecuting, said a series of inspections showed very little improvement in the condition of the dogs: 'They were kept in the same enclosures without adequate kennels and often with no water. One had a skin condition which was not treated until very late.

'There was also concern for the welfare of other animals, including chickens and geese. The county council's view is he is not capable of keeping any animals adequately and has demonstrated that over the years.'

Smith was convicted in 1998 of failing to dispose of animal by products and in 1999 of welfare offences, leading to a five-year ban from keeping sheep and cattle.

He was convicted of both offences again in 2008 and banned for a second time from keeping sheep and cattle for a further five years, a prohibition which remains in force.

Miss Kelly Scrivener, defending, said Smith had kept dogs all his life and training sheepdogs had been a big part of his life as a countryman. She said he tried to improve conditions at Meldon but was still awaiting planning permission to build proper kennels.

The horses had only just been bought when they were seen by officials and he arrived with water for them during the inspection.

Smith is now being investigated by Devon County Council over his treatment of horses after officials allegedly found ponies and foals in ploughed fields with nothing to eat or drink at fields at Bridestowe, and Boasley Cross.