A mum left her dog to starve while she travelled to Portugal, a court heard.
Sonia Marcos pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to her Jack Russell cross called Bella.
A vet told Bromley Magistrates’ Court it was one of the worst cases of starvation she had ever seen.
An RSPCA prosecutor told Bromley Magistrates’ Court that Marcos travelled to Portugal for two weeks as a relative was ill.
When the mum returned Bella was emaciated.
She was dead by the time Marcos took her to the vets later that day.
After her death Bella weighed just 2.25kg, almost half the 4.2kg she was as a puppy in 2017.
In the run up to her death she was likely to have been in great pain - Bella was severely dehydrated, had fleas, and her nails were so long they were growing into the pads of her feet.
A post-mortem found lack of food was the only cause of Bella’s physical sickness.
A vet ruled Bella had been suffering for at least four weeks, but possibly months.
Marcos denied any wrongdoing when interviewed under caution, and claimed Bella had been a healthy weight when she left.
She insisted she made arrangements for a friend to look after Bella during her trip, but the prosecutor said this person could not be found.
The prosecutor said: “The information given about the friend did not stack up and this person couldn’t be traced.
“The vet said the dog would have suffered due to weakness, lethargy, unrelenting hunger and pain from her nails.”
Marcos pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Sentencing was adjourned for a pre-sentence report, and Marcos was told she could be imprisoned for the crime.
