A YOUNG couple have been banned from keeping pets for life after starving a dog to death.

Danielle Rogers, aged 19, of Durham Road, Worcester, and Keeley Scott, aged 19, of Chedworth Drive, Worcester, admitted dumping the body of their starved dog Lulu in a plastic bag in a park when they were sentenced at Worcester Magistrates' Court.

The couple were sentenced to a 12-month community order with a requirement to complete 30 days rehabilitation and ordered to pay £355 each.

The body of Lulu came to the attention of the RSPCA after Patch, a black and white Staffordshire bull terrier, was handed into a vets in Worcester in December 2016.

Concerned staff called the animal welfare charity who traced the couple.

Inspector Rachel Hayward said: “He was frightfully thin, you could see every bone in his body including the shape of his skull - he was a walking skeleton.

"He weighed just 9.8kg - around half what he should have weighed as an adult, male Staffy.”

In July, the couple were convicted, in absence, of two offences of causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs, contrary to Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act.

"Those poor dogs were locked inside a flat, hidden away from view and left to slowly die," added Mrs Hayward.

"Their basic needs simply weren’t met and as they lost more and more weight their owners simply ignored them."

"Sadly, it was too late for poor Lulu. But Patch had a chance and we were determined to get him back to health."

Staff at Ambleside Vets in Worcester gave Patch round-the-clock care to nurse him back to health and build his weight to 16kg.

His rehabilitation was made more difficult by a medical condition he was suffering from called megaesophagus, meaning his oesophagus did not function properly, so he couldn’t get food into his stomach easily.

Once he was strong enough, Patch went to the RSPCA’s Southridge Animal Centre, in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, where staff set about trying to help him eat properly - with his meals fed to him in an upright chair allowing his food to move down into his stomach.

"It worked,” Insp Hayward added, “and Patch soon caught the attention of dog-lover Lulu Jenkins, from St Albans, and he went off to join her and her pack of six other rescue dogs."

“I’m so pleased he got a happy ending after everything he has been through. And now he’ll never need to worry again about when his next meal is coming or whether he’ll eat that day.”

“He is great and lives life to the full," said Mrs Jenkins.

“He has settled in really well and gets on well with the other dogs and animals.

“He can eat normally and enjoys having treats and chews.

"He is utterly ball obsessed and loves chasing feathers from the geese when they’re floating around the garden."

"He is such a character and we love him to pieces.”