Cindy was found dead, but Sheba has made a full recovery

The body of an emaciated dog lies on the floor, as her grateful companion drinks from a basin of water given to her by RSPCA inspectors.

The image of cruelty is just one of the hundreds of cases the RSPCA deals with every year in the North West, and detailed in the charity's latest annual cruelty statistics.

In this case Cindy and Sheba had been left for more than a fortnight without food or water.

Two unopened bags of dog food lay a matter of yards away - but on the wrong side of a locked door.

When RSPCA inspector Martyn Fletcher managed to gain entry to the house in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, he discovered Cindy, a brindle-cross, was already dead and Sheba, a black collie-cross, was barely alive.

Owner Alan Arthur Helps, 19, later told the inspector he had planned to be away visiting his mother for two days.

Cindy and Sheba suffered terribly as a result of Helps' cruel actions. RSPCA Inspector Martyn Fletcher

He said he intended to return to his house, in Cumberland Road, but he had a puncture on his bike.

Rochdale Magistrates Court heard in January last year there was no food or water in the room with the dogs.

The court was told the room was covered in dog faeces and pools of urine and the door was wedged shut using a broom handle.

Helps pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to both dogs by abandoning them.

He was banned for life from having custody of any animals and was also given a two-year community sentence rehabilitation order.

Complete recovery

Cindy may be dead, but Sheba has survived and prospered.

She has made a complete recovery and has been re-homed.

Inspector Fletcher said: "Cindy and Sheba suffered terribly as a result of Helps' cruel actions.

"Cindy had died and I don't believe Sheba would have survived for much longer.

"It was tragic that food was nearby but beyond their reach.

"This was an appalling case of cruelty."