A 45-year-old man from Cornwall has been banned from keeping birds for 15 years after Harris hawks in his care were subjected to prolonged neglect.

Mark Anthony Thomas, of Wesley Court, Pensilva, Liskeard, pleaded guilty to four charges when he appeared before Bodmin Magistrates Court on Thursday, February 7.

An inspector from the RSPCA rescued hawks who were in the care of Thomas after his failure to meet the birds’ multiple welfare needs, including a suitable environment, suitable diet, reasonable supervision and the provision of veterinary care.

Thomas – who offered falconry training and experience days to members of the public – was also given a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay £250 costs and a £115 victim surcharge. He also cannot appeal his ban for eight years.

A deceased Harris hawk, named Storm, was found by a vet to be extremely underweight, just 770 grams when the bird’s healthy normal weight should have been more than 1kg.

The bird also had an extremely painful chronic foot infection, otherwise known as bumblefoot. Post mortem results confirmed Storm was in poor bodily condition, attributable to malnutrition, with muscular atrophy, with bumblefoot of both feet and faecal staining to feathers.

Two other Harris hawks, which had been on loan to Thomas, were also underweight with health problems as a result of inadequate husbandry, and a failure to meet their needs over a number of months.

Both thankfully survived, and are now recovering, but have sadly been left with lifelong health conditions as a result of inappropriate care by Thomas. One bird now has liver problems, while the other has issues with very poor feather quality.

A specialist avian vet was shown photos of the conditions the Harris hawks had been living in and confirmed the needs of the birds had not been met to the extent required by good practice, with accommodation which was wholly inadequate and not allowing natural behaviours, with other inadequacies including the lack of a double door system, the lack of weather proofing, inadequate perching and inadequate size.

RSPCA Deputy Chief Inspector Suzy Hannaby, who investigated for the charity, said: “This is a very sad case where one Harris hawk has died and two others have been left with ongoing health problems because of the failure to meet their most basic needs. Keeping birds of prey is a huge commitment requiring specialist knowledge, husbandry, equipment and accommodation.

“Harris hawks are fantastic birds, they are social, intelligent and adaptable. They can easily live twenty years. Unfortunately they are all too easy to obtain, frequently bought and sold, and often end up in the wrong hands.

“Going on a course or reading a book is no substitute for practical experience with someone knowledgeable who can mentor over time but it must be someone who truly knows how to care for and train these birds and understands how to meet their complex needs.

“Thomas claimed to be experienced in falconry and offered to train people who thought they were correctly learning best practice from him. He let them down, just as he let the birds down.”