A WOMAN who used homeopathy instead of taking her dogs to a vet has been banned from keeping animals for three years.

When the RSPCA received a call about Susan Lambert’s dogs, the 54-year-old claimed her two German Shepherds were suffering from a skin condition because they had been burnt by the sulphuric acid that a farmer had sprayed on nearby fields.

She was advised to seek veterinary treatment, but refused saying she would continue to use homeopathy.

Three months later, an RSPCA officer returned to find the dogs’ conditions had rapidly deteriorated.

Five-year-old male K had lost half his fur, while eight-year-old female Tee (pictured) was almost completely bald.

Eventually the RSCPA and police attended Lambert’s address in Colwall to seize the animals.

They were taken to a vet who found that parasitic mites had burrowed into the dogs’ skin and caused severe mange.

At Hereford Magistrates’ Court last week, Gaynor Sutton, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said Lambert had been “difficult to deal with”.

Lambert had accused the RSPCA of harassment and, when police called at her house, initially refused to let them in.

She was been found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to animals during a hearing at Hereford Magistrates last month.

Lambert, who now lives in the Nottingham area, did not attend that trial and did not attend court to be sentenced due to illness, but in a letter to the court said she was now too sick to continue the fight to get her dogs back.

Since being taken in by the RSPCA, Tee has made a full recovery. She will soon be up for adoption through the animal charity.

Sadly K was put to sleep after vets found an inoperable tumour.

As well as being banned from keeping any animals for three years, Lambert was fined a total of £600 and ordered to pay £400 costs.