A WOMAN who starved a dog to such an extent that it resorted to cannibalism was behind bars last night.

Marie Connelly was jailed for three months and banned for life from keeping a pet after pleading guilty to two charges of causing cruelty to animals at Teesside Magistrates' Court yesterday.

At an earlier hearing, Judge James Prowse heard how a RSPCA Inspector Garry Palmer looked through a window at Connelly's home as an emaciated border terrier ate the remains of a dead bull mastiff.

The dogs were in a room next to the kitchen at the 35-year-old's home in Pallister Avenue, Middlesbrough.

Commenting on yesterday's sentence, Insp Palmer said: "It's hard to get a custodial sentence for anyone relating to animal cruelty. I believe this is the first one in five years at Teesside magistrates.

"It is the worst case I have seen on Teesside, without doubt, and the sentence imposed reflects the seriousness and severity with which the court viewed it.

"It was bad enough to have an animal starve, but to have an animal revert to cannibalism is unheard of - disgusting and despicable."

Connelly maintained she had fed the dogs only the day before the inspector looked through her window.

But a post-mortem examination on the bull mastiff revealed it had died of starvation at least 72 hours earlier.

The emaciated black and tan border terrier recovered after it was taken into RSPCA care.