A Greenwich woman whose Staffordshire bull terriers were left to starve has been banned from owning dogs for three years.

Sandy Branigan, 44, of Clendon Way was convicted at Bromley Magistrates’ Court of causing unnecessary suffering to her terriers.

Four of her six dogs - Cassie, Goldie, Kikidee and Kai had weight loss which was not investigated by Branigan, while all of them had overgrown nails.

RSPCA inspector Nick Wheelhouse said: "We were first called with concern about these dogs last summer, and spent a few months trying to work with the owner to improve their welfare.

"It became clear though, that our advice was not being heeded and the dogs were suffering. Many of them were underweight and suffering from various ailments such as diarrhoea, overgrown nails and general poor health.

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"In October a vet said they needed to be removed from the address and placed into RSPCA care, and they have since thrived. Four of the dogs were clearly underweight at the time, but quickly showed vast improvements in RSPCA care."

He added: "They gained 77 per cent of their body weight in a very short space of time - which made it apparent that they had not been getting an adequate diet beforehand. It seems they had effectively been starved."

On June 23, Branigan was disqualified from keeping dogs for three years, ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid work and pay £250 costs and £60 victim surcharge.