A dog was discovered lying dead next to an empty tin of food after his negligent owner left him abandoned for more than a month.
Katie Louise Oldridge, who left Staffordshire bull terrier Frank to starve to death in her home, has been banned from keeping animals for life.
The kitchen floor in Meadowbank Road, Hull, where his lifeless body was laying was covered in a large amount of dried out faeces.
RSPCA inspector Jilly Dickinson, who led the investigation for the animal welfare charity, said: ‘The kitchen door had a baby gate in the frame.
‘I found a dog food tin on the kitchen worktop, which contained mouldy remains of food in the bottom of it, and an empty box of dog treats, which appeared to contain faeces.
‘There was an overwhelming smell of faeces and decomposing flesh in the property.’
As the inspector placed Frank’s body into an RSPCA evidence bag, a heap of live maggots dropped from his rotting head.
Even more, Frank was so incredibly thin that Ms Dickinson said she could see all of his bones.
Oldridge was convicted of two animal welfare offences at Hull Magistrates’ Court on August 25 after the RSPCA found his decomposing remains.
Magistrates highlighted that this is ‘one of the worst, if not the worst’ acts of negligence they had heard as a bench.
The court was told how Oldridge had left a bowl of water but no food was found within Frank’s reach as she abandoned him between April 10 and May 14 last year.
A vet report concluded that the terrier likely suffered for a number of weeks before his eventual death.
The investigation found that his level of emaciation, coupled with the ingestion of foreign materials, suggested he ate anything he could to try and feed himself.
The lack of fat and muscle tissue also suggested that his body had used up its internal energy resources rather than having adequate nutrition provided.
The court heard mitigation put forward that Oldridge was dealing with personal problems before the offence and became dependent on alcohol.
In addition to the lifetime disqualification from keeping all animals – which she cannot contest for a decade – Oldridge was sentenced to 18 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for two years.
She was ordered to carry out 12 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days and 200 hours’ of unpaid work in the community, and was also ordered to pay £300 costs and a victim surcharge of £128.
While sentencing, magistrates commented: ‘We consider this to be a deliberate act of neglect – one of the worst, if not the worst, we have had the misfortune to hear as a bench of magistrates.
‘We are satisfied that this case justifies a sentence of imprisonment but for your guilty plea and lack of previous convictions in combination with your personal circumstances we are persuaded to suspend the sentence.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.