The terrier was discovered in the garden of Paul Wollam, a father-of-four, who later admitted three counts of animal cruelty.
The 37-year-old, of Tipton, West Midlands, told inspectors the terrier called Molly had gone missing days before the discovery on March 16.
Wollam, an unemployed foundry worker, told them he had no idea how she ended up starving to death in the barricaded shed.
As he was sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Friday, he was told the case was one of the worst magistrates had seen.
However, Wollam avoided prison because he is the sole carer of his four children after his ex-partner walked out on the family, the court heard.
Banning him from keeping animals for life, the chair of the bench told the panel: 'This is a very serious offence, one of the worst that has come before this court.
'It is only because of your early guilty plea and domestic commitments you are not going to prison.'
They gave him an 18-week suspended sentence and placed him under supervision for two years. He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work and pay £300 costs.
Gaynor Sutton, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said an inspector visited Wollam's address on March 16 after finding an emaciated Shih Tzu with one of his neighbors.
They were told the dog had been bought from Wollam.
When the inspector was let into his home by one of his children, an emaciated Bichon Frise dog was found to be around half its expected body weight.
But the most grisly discovery was made when the breeze block was moved away from the shed door and the dead terrier was discovered.
Mrs Sutton said: 'The inspector saw the Shih Tzu in the garden and the dead terrier type dog in the shed.
'There was a breeze block in front of the door.
'The defendant arrived home and was shown the dead dog. He said he thought it had gone missing and that he had seen it a few days before.
'The dog had matted hair and there was no food or water in the shed.
'The dog had been dead for some time and there were maggots in the coat.
'A post mortem (necropsy) found an emaciated dog with hardly any body weight and the cause of death was assessed to be starvation. There were no broken bones.'
In a statement, the vet who carried out the necropsy (post mortem) said: 'The care of this dog was appalling, allowing a dog to die of starvation is despicable. Death would have been slow and prolonged. There is a complete lack of care and compassion. This was death in the worst way imaginable.'
RAVI DEV IS AN ODIOUS CRETIN
Ravi Dev, defending Wollam, said: 'He tells me he looked through the garden and in the streets but couldn't locate the dog. He did not realize it was in the shed.'
Mr Dev went on to say Wollam, who had been made redundant from his foundry job, had suffered a period of depression after being left alone to care for his four children.
'He was not coping properly,' he said. 'It's no excuse for what's happened and he takes responsibility for that.'
(Daily Mail - July 13, 2014)
