A man has been banned from owning animals for the rest of his life after being convicted for the second time of animal cruelty.

Antoine Kevin Sealey, 33, was given a six month prison sentence for each of four counts of cruelty, to run concurrently, against animals at Peek Farm in Smith's, between January 1 and May 29 of last year.

The jail-term was suspended for two years but Magistrate William Francis banned Sealey from ever owning animals again.

He said if he ever cared for animals again, he must only do so under a supervised environment.

Sealey, who currently has a job caring for farm animals, was charged with wilfully neglecting and failing to provide adequate food, water and shelter for 52 chickens at his farm.

He was also convicted of causing the pain and suffering of eight chickens at the farm, which were found dead by animal welfare inspectors.

Sealey, from Devonshire, was also accused of wilfully neglecting 36 goats and three ducks. In total, about 99 animals were seized from his control by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The defendant had appealed his conviction after being found guilty of the charges in April this year. However, in October, he failed to appear for the appeal hearing so it was dismissed and Sealey was brought back before the court for sentencing.

On Tuesday this week, Prosecutor Juan Wolffe urged the court to treat the matter seriously, and said this was Sealey's second animal cruelty offence.

In 1997 he was convicted of failing to provide food, water and shelter for three horses, which were found in a malnourished state.

On that occasion, similar offences against dogs, goats, rabbits, chickens and ducks were taken into consideration. He was given a conditional discharge for 12 months.

But on the latest occasion, a trench worker discovered the animals without water and believed them to be in need and so called the SPCA for help.

When SPCA Inspector Charles Whited gave evidence, he said when he visited the farm he found the area littered with broken glass, a sliding glass door, pieces of wood and parts of a large satellite dish.

Also scattered around were empty beer bottles and dead animals, including chickens, a goat and duck.

Flies and maggots had infested the dead animals.

When Sealey was asked about the state of the farm, he said they were in a poor state because the caretaker of the farm was sick with the flu and he had had no way of contacting him.

The agency took control of the animals and has spent thousands of dollars since maintaining and bringing them back to health.

Sealey was evicted from the farm by the landlords, Works and Engineering, and its tenancy was taken over by the SPCA.

His worker, Glenn Richardson, 42, was convicted of four counts of animal cruelty this year and was fined a total of $1,200 - $300 for each count.

But it was farm owner Sealey who was told he had to take most of the responsibility.

As part of the sentencing this week, the Magistrate ordered that Sealey not be given the animals back, and instead said the SPCA could sell them and use the proceeds to recoup some of the money it had spent on their care and maintenance.

He said that would offer some kind of compensation to the charity, who was more than $15,000 out of pocket.