Woman banned from keeping pets for life after starving her dog

Stacey Lockhurst, 27, kept Jack in a cage with no food and water for an astonishing seven months.

Lockhurst was given a 20-week prison sentence - suspended for a year - by magistrates on Friday for her treatment of Jack, the Daily Mail reported.

Investigators from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) first visited her former home in Erith, south east London, in October 2010 - when the dog was just 16 weeks old.

They offered advice on training and suggested she hand over the puppy, but he was found dead seven months later, covered with a curtain.

 

His container was infested with maggots and flies and a water bowl was full of excrement. A postmortem examination found Jack was emaciated.

He had no fat and probably died of starvation, with the examining vet saying he "suffered greatly and unnecessarily for a great period of time".

District Judge Michael Kelly said the case was "particularly bad" - but Lockhurst, who has learning difficulties, had been "influenced to an extent".

He added while passing sentence in court that