A Tyneside pet store owner has been banned from keeping animals for life following an investigation by officials with environmental health jobs.
David Luther also received a 12-week suspended prison sentence at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court and saw his pet shop licence withdrawn earlier this month, the Shields Gazette reports.
The 66-year-old admitted charges of failing to protect 27 diseased reptiles from pain and suffering.
When environmental health officials visited his shop on Christmas Eve last year, they discovered some of the animals were being kept in poor conditions and fed an unsuitable diet.
Seven of the 27 reptiles seized as part of the investigation later died.
Solicitor for the RSPCA Clive McKeag described Mr Luther as "an extreme case" of animal cruelty, exacerbated by the fact he was making money from the reptiles he mistreated.
"What we cannot have is someone purporting to be expert when he is causing unnecessary suffering to reptiles," he told the newspaper.
Earlier this month, the Jarrow and Hebburn Gazette reported that people with environmental health jobs in South Tyneside were called to investigate the discovery of animal remains at a house in the area.
Posted by Lucy Hallows
