A WANSTEAD woman who was prosecuted for neglecting her pet dog has lost an appeal against her sentence.

Natasha Bailey, who was living in Gardner Close when she was first taken to court, shut the Staffordshire bull terrier in a small hallway and left him to starve, sitting in his own excrement.

The two-year-old dog, named Junior, was found last year after a member of the public became concerned about his welfare and called police.

Officers then called the RSPCA after finding the dog and Inspector Dawn Avery arrived to investigate.

She described the dog as 'living in squalid conditions', without food or water and suffering from a skin disease.

Miss Avery, who deals with cases in Waltham Forest, Newham and parts of Essex as well as Redbridge, said: "It was as serious as you can get with the dog still being alive.

"The most serious ones will be where the animal dies but this was far more serious than my day to day routine.

"The dog was only being attended to once a day - for about 23 hours a day, he was in that hallway, all on his own."

Bailey, now living in Robinia Close, Ilford, was originally handed a four-year ban on keeping any animals, told to carry out 120 hours' unpaid work and ordered to pay £75 in costs.

She appealed against the sentence at Snaresbrook Crown Court on September 7 but failed to have it overturned.

Miss Avery added: "I would like to think that she's young enough to have learned her lesson."

Despite Bailey's appeal failing, the case cost the RSPCA thousands of pounds in legal fees, which they were unable to recover.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said: “The dog was just left in the hallway. He was living in his own filth and had no food or water – that was the whole of his life.

“He never went out for walks and was very thin. The dog was in such poor condition that we had to take him away.

“Because Bailey appealed it's cost £16,000 in legal costs, and we won't get any of that back.”

Junior, who is now three years old, was taken away from Bailey and put in RSPCA care and has now been adopted by a staff member at the shelter where he was being cared for.