Joy Battison, 59, of Orchard Hill in Little Billing, asked her son and his girlfriend to take Hobo to the PDSA hospital in Northampton and pretend he was a stray animal after the 12-year-old dog started to lose fur and stopped eating.

Hobo weighed just 40lb when vets at the hospital saw him, and had a catalogue of health problems including mange and malnutrition.

Magistrates in Northampton banned Battison from keeping animals for 25 years and gave her a supervision order for 12 months.

Claire Ryder, RSPCA inspector, said she was "very pleased" with the sentence.

"I am very pleased with the disqualification as it is always so important to us that the welfare of future animals is protected," she said.

"Hobo suffered terribly and was in an unbelievable condition. I just hope that pet owners will learn from this that they must seek veterinary advice for their animals - it does not help them or their pets to leave them until they suffer."