400 animals to be put down over noise complaints

More than 400 animals are set to be put down after neighbours have made noise complaints to the council over the sanctuary. The rescue cares for cats, dogs and pigs but was taken to court after locals complained.

The Happy Pants Ranch has now lost a legal appeal against an eviction notice and has just months to relocate or find homes for the animals before they'll be destroyed. The charity in Newington, near Sittingbourne, Kent, is owned by Amey James and looks after for cats, dogs and pigs, most of which have special needs, including an epileptic pig, a blind and deaf dog, and three-legged cats.

The sanctuary moved to a a 20-acre site in 2021 but has been subject to numerous noise complaints from its unhappy neighbours. The eviction notices comes after a three-year battle with Swale Council to turn the use of the land from agricultural to animal rescue.

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After the first planning appeal was refused, Happy Pants was issued an eviction notice. Amey appealed but this week found out it had been denied. Now she has been given nine months to leave the land but says she does not have the funds to relocate, reports Devon Live.

She said: “I’m not quite sure how to put this because I’m finding it difficult to actually process this properly but I just found out that we lost the planning decision appeal and have been told we have nine months to vacate the land.

"Although I always knew there was a chance of this utterly heartbreaking outcome I’ve always tried to be so positive. I’m beyond devastated and feel in fact that my world, which is what this sanctuary is, just collapsed.