A BROTHER and sister have been banned from keeping animals for five years after abandoning two terrier-type dogs for three days.

Michelle Melles, 24, of Wood View, Spennymoor, and her brother, Darryl Melles, 18, of Wordsworth Road, Chilton, admitted leaving the pets without food or water for three days.

The dogs - a male black and white terrier, called Rocky, and a black and tan female, called Jess - belonged to Ms Melles.

RSPCA inspectors were alerted to Ms Melles' former address, at Raby Terrace, in Chilton, by a member of the public who heard the animals' distressed cries and barking in December last year.

Inspectors found the property was covered in urine, faeces and household rubbish, a large kitchen knife had been left on the kitchen floor and there was no food or water available for the dogs.

They had been left unattended for a total of 74 hours, during which time RSPCA inspectors dropped food for them through the letterbox.

A veterinary surgeon said the animals had been put at risk of disease.

In an interview, Ms Melles said she had hurt her foot at the time of the offence and left the property to temporarily live with her partner, entrusting the care of her dogs to her brother.

On Thursday, October 25, Bishop Auckland magistrates handed both Michelle Melles and Darryl Melles a two-year conditional discharge, a five-year ban on keeping animals and ordered each to pay £500 in costs to the RSPCA.

Both dogs were taken into the care of the RSPCA and have been re-homed.