London: A British dog owner who starved her German Shepherd puppy to death in a tiny squalid cage has avoided jail but been banned from keeping pets for life.
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 there may have been some lack of appreciation of what was happening to the dog.
Her partner Paul Brunsden, 25, was jailed for 20 weeks and also banned for life from keeping animals when he appeared in court last month, the report said.
Lockhurst was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and pay 200 pounds court costs. The RSPCA has described the case as one of the worst incidents of animal cruelty its officers had ever seen.
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