A terrier bitch was slowly starved to death, a dog's painful ear infection left untreated for years and two puppies were "skin and bone" after months of suffering, a court heard.

Trouble, a brindle and white Staffordshire bull terrier-type, had been so hungry she had taken to eating leaves and small stones, Waltham Forest Magistrates Court heard today.

She came to the attention of the RSPCA on March 10, when her owner, 47-year-old Cecile Mathurin, of Palm Court, Leyton, brought her corpse to the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) centre in Bow, claiming she did not know why Trouble had died.

A previous visit to the PDSA in January showed Trouble, a dog which used to belong to her son until he was imprisoned, already showed "extreme emaciation."

Vet Martin Lawton, who performed Trouble's post mortem, said he found a cupful of food in her stomach but none at all in her intestines or bowels, stating that meant she had had been fed shortly before death but not at all for 24 hours before that.

He told the court Trouble weighed just 9.8kg instead of a healthy weight of between 15 and 19kg, and had a shrunken liver and enlarged gall bladder, both indications of starvation.

He said he believed her condition would have been painful and distressing for her.

"In order to reach that stage we are looking at months of wasting," he said.

He also examined her two four-month-old puppies, which were seized by the RSPCA, and said they were undersized and underweight at 6.3kg and 5.95kg, but with a proper diet and no further medical treatment were now a healthy 8.4kg and 8.75kg respectively.

He found their sire, Mace, was a healthy weight but had a chronic and painful ear infection. Mahurin pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to provide sufficient nutrition and two of failing to provide vetrinary attention, but appeared not to take the proceedings seriously, muttering under her breath and calling out "this is ridiculous" as she left court.

Her friend, Mohammed Ibrahim, 50, of the same address pleaded not guilty, saying he only moved to the home last summer to provide a father figure for her two youngest teenage boys and the dogs were not his.

But he also said he used to feed Trouble two or three tins of food and did not understand how she could have died of starvation.

Ibrahim, who conducted his own defence, asked Mr Lawton if poisoning or another medical reason could be to blame.

But Mr Lawton left no room for doubt.

In his defence, Ibrahim said he worked between 8am and 2am every day and fed the dogs on his return but was "too knackered" to notice their condition.

But the chairman of the bench, Allan Brett, said the three magistrates found his explanation "not credible", adding that since Mr Ibrahim had admitted he contributed both financially and practically to the household, which included feeding the dogs, he was also responsible for their welfare.

The two were released on unconditional bail and will be sentenced at the same court on December 18.