Susan Horncastle, of Wallasey, Wirral, escaped a jail sentence after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a West Highland Terrier at Wirral Magistrates Court on Monday.
But, the 60-year-old has been given a life ban from keeping animals.
Ms Horncastle also lost her job as headteacher at Our Lady of Good Help Primary School in Wavertree, Liverpool after the 18 years when the case came to light.
She had admitted leaving her sister's 17-year-old dog 'Snowy' caked in feces "for months" and without urgent veterinary care for a painful tumor between June 11 and July 12 this year.
The woman had agreed to take care of the pet when her sister left to move to Australia several years ago.
But, after local concerns were raised, RSPCA inspectors discovered a foul smell coming through the letter box of her home and initially believed the dog was dead.
Vets said the elderly dog had an ulcerated tumor on its anus which stank "overpoweringly of rotting flesh" covered in "greasy and matted fur".
The animal medics added that the dog's injuries were consistent with being left for months without care.
The poor dog was still alive but vets decided to put him down on humane grounds.
Ms Horncastle showed no expression as she was told she caused "unnecessary levels of suffering to an animal" during sentencing.
Chris Murphy, prosecuting, said: "The RSPCA made several attempts to contact Ms Horncastle and when they did she claimed she had no animals.
"She had owned the dog since July 2011, which was when her sister moved to Australia.
"The vet said the dog's eyes were both sunken and it was severely dehydrated, it was cold to the touch and believed to have collapsed a week before being brought in.
"The dog would have been in discomfort and it would have been difficult for it to sit down so it is unreasonable for the owner to claim she didn't know about the condition of the dog."
District Judge Matthew Abelson gave her a three month prison sentence suspended for two years, banned her from keeping animals for life and fined her £1,227 to pay the court and RSPCA.
He said: "Because her health has been declining she just hasn't given this dog the care it should have had.
"Ms Horncastle is a lady of exemplary behavior and has lived a distinguished professional life. But in no way does that excuse her behavior. It was quite clear you would have been aware of the decline in this dog's health."
RSPCA Inspector Anthony Joynes said: “This was a serious case of prolonged neglect. Snowy suffered, in my opinion, a catalog of neglect. It would have been all too obvious to Horncastle that Snowy was suffering.”
Matthew Hardy, defending, told the court she suffers from two severe forms of arthritis and has limited mobility, which stopped her from being able to pick up the dog and inspect it.
Uh, there wasn't anything wrong with her nose. She could smell the rot coming from the poor animal. Also, clearly she is a fat cow so she didn't have any problem picking up bags of groceries.
Mr Hardy added the former teacher "loved that dog"
He said: "Ms Horncastle has a lot of medical problems which have attributed to the case. Because of her arthritis it was difficult for her to lift the dog or to take it to the vets to be checked out. She didn't notice any of the dog's symptoms and said he was a happy go lucky dog who was just off his food."
He also said that his client had been the subject of extremely "threatening" letters that were being investigated by police.
(Express UK - Dec 1, 2015)
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