United Kingdom: Gemma Bennie was sent off to jail and never bothered to tell anyone about her dog starving to death in her apartment

UNITED KINGDOM -- A woman consigned her pet dog to an agonizing death by starvation after leaving him in her apartment while she was sent to prison.

Zacko, a one year old Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier, was found lying on cruel Gemma Bennie's clothes where he had crawled in a desperate bid for comfort before he died.

The defenseless dog suffered a slow, painful end when the heartless woman abandoned him alone in her apartment after she was sent to prison.

Now Bennie has been jailed again and banned from keeping animals for the rest of her life.

She was first jailed at the end of January and the dog's decomposed body was found three months later.

A neighbor alerted the authorities about a fly infestation and smell coming from her flat in Filton, Bristol.

Bennie, 26, PLEADED GUILTY to animal cruelty and was sent back to prison for 17 weeks and disqualified from keeping animals for life.

Bristol magistrates heard that she failed to tell anyone that the dog was alone when she was first jailed in January.

RSPCA inspector Miranda Albinson said: "Who knows how long it took this poor dog to die alone in that apartment.

"We can't know whether it was starvation or dehydration which finally caused his death, but it is clear he would have suffered. I found him curled up in his owner's clothes on the bed. He must have gone there for comfort.

"It was a haunting sight - one of the saddest things I have ever seen. His suffering was just so unnecessary.

"No-one else had keys, and no-one knew he was there. Simply just sharing this information with a reliable person would have saved his life and saved the lonely, prolonged death that we can only suppose he had."

Zacko was owned by Bennie's former partner, who was ALSO in prison and had left him in her care.

(Mirror UK - Oct 9, 2016)