Dog starved to death and left under jacket

A WOMAN allowed her dog to starve to death in one of the worst cases of its kind an experienced RSPCA officer has ever seen, a court has heard.

- JASON EVANS Court and crime reporter

It is thought that Areo the spaniel went without food for three or four months before dying - at which point the owner simply covered the body with a jacket and left it rotting on the floor.

Jessica Edwards has been sent to prison for 26 weeks and been banned for life from keeping animals after being convicted of animal welfare offences.

Swansea Magistrates' Court heard that police and RSPCA officers attended a property in Neath on December 5 last year, and were allowed in by the defendant.

On entry the officers were immediately met with a "foul" smell.