CONVICTED (2021) | Martin Geary, born 21 July 1989, and Lesley Donnelly, born 2 June 1995, of Poplar Road, Bridgwater TA6 4UH – neglected the bearded dragons they sold online Donnelly and Geary, who have other pets, were only banned from keeping exotic animals Geary (apparently a convicted paedophile) and partner Lesley Donnelly (aka Lesley Geary) pleaded guilty to animal welfare offences, following a prosecution by the RSPCA. The charity was alerted by an exotic animal rescuer, who was concerned for the welfare of the reptiles being sold by the pair. Neglected bearded dragon Chubby was in such poor condition he had to be euthanised. RSPCA Inspector Jo Daniel visited the couple’s home, where she discovered three bearded dragons. She said: “I was shocked when Donnelly moved a bookcase that was leaning on what I thought was a disused tank on the floor to see that this was where the bearded dragons were being housed. “The vivarium was dirty with a smashed area of glass in the bottom right corner. “I could see a lizard’s leg protruding through this hole. There were three bearded dragons in the vivarium. All appeared very quiet and subdued. “The largest was the one with its foot protruding, who I was advised was called Chubby. “It was immediately apparent that he was emaciated and he also had grossly swollen eyes, in particular the right. “The second was a juvenile female and was the smallest of the three with smaller darker spines. “This bearded dragon was also emaciated with the spine and pelvis prominent and a damaged tail. “The last bearded dragon, a juvenile male, was slightly bigger and had white spines and was also emaciated with spine and pelvis prominent and a tail injury. “An exotic animal vet who examined the bearded dragons concluded that they were kept in inappropriate conditions resulting in stress, suffering, and illness. “The broken glazing put them at risk of injury. The inappropriate feeding resulted in malnutrition, stress and illness, and the poor sanitary conditions resulted in parasitic disease which in turn resulted in illness.” Chubby had to be put down due to the severity of his condition caused by the couple’s neglect. The other two bearded dragons were taken to an RSPCA animal rescue centre, where they were housed in a vivarium with appropriate heat and UV light, food and water and their condition began to improve. They have since been rehomed with experienced owners. Sentencing: six-month curfew order; total of £690 costs and charges each. Banned from keeping exotic pets for ten years but can appeal after five. Somerset County Gazette BBC News