A DOG owner was warned he could face prison after leaving his pet to starve to death.

Magistrates heard how the Rottweiler dog had been locked in a darkened dining room with no food or water for weeks.

It had been so desperate for food that it had eaten plastic in an attempt to survive.

Carl Frederick Robson, 34, of Craddock Street, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the animal when he appeared at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Kevin Campbell, for the RSPCA, told the court how the dog was discovered in the dining room of a home in South Church, near Bishop Auckland, in September last year, in an extremely distressed state.

He said: "It was standing behind the door in complete darkness. It was in a very serious state and the carpet was completely covered in faeces."

Mr Campbell went on to describe the dog as being skin and bone with a vitrually non-existant stomach.

Vets battled to save the animal, but in the end it had to be put down. They later said the dog had no body fat and was half its normal bodyweight.

Zena Smith, for Robson, said he had suffered severe depression following the break-up of his marriage and had threatened self-harm.

She said: "He is deeply ashamed and deeply regrets what has happened. At the time, he could not look after himself and he certainly could not look after the dog.

"He was so consumed with his depression and self-harm that he simply could not make arrangements to look after the dog."

Magistrates adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports, but warned Robson that the case was so severe that a custodial sentence was being considered.

He will appear again at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court on July 29 to be sentenced.