A WOMAN who was convicted of inflicting cruelty on a gerbil was yesterday banned from keeping animals for ten years.

RSPCA officers found the hungry and thirsty rodent in a cage at Jean Teasdale's council home in Trimdon Village, County Durham, earlier this year.

The gerbil was found in a filthy open cage, and the floor and work surfaces were also soiled in the kitchen of the house in Hallgarth Road.

When it was offered water, the gerbil drank for two-and-a-half minutes, and ravenously ate a piece of apple.

Magistrates were told the albino pet, one of two gerbils, Sooty and Sweep, which belonged to Teasdale, has been found a new home.

The whereabouts of the second gerbil remained a mystery because it was not found when RSPCA officers visited the house.

Teasdale, who went to live with a friend in Trimdon Station in January, claimed she returned to the house to feed and water the gerbils every few days.

She denied a charge of abandoning the gerbils without reasonable excuse, in circumstances likely to cause them unnecessary suffering.

Teasdale was convicted by Durham magistrates following a trial last month, returning yesterday for sentence.

The 29-year-old, now of Wood View, Trimdon Station, was given a two-year community rehabilitation order, and will be referred to the probation service.

She was ordered to pay £500 costs and banned from keeping animals for ten years.

Keith Parker, chairman of the magistrates, said it was, "a very serious matter".

He said the bench would have issued a community punishment order, the new terminology for community service, but for the fact that Teasdale was on sickness benefit.