Couple let dog's ear infection get so bad it smelled like 'rotting flesh'

• Warning: Contains graphic image.

A couple have been told they cannot keep pets for two years after they let their dog's ear infection get so bad that it smelled like 'rotting flesh'.

Mark Lamb, 46, and Gillian Lamb, 42, were told by a veterinarian that their American cocker spaniel Monty had a severe ear infection and needed surgery, but they never took the six-year-old back.

Three months later the RSPCA visited after they received a tip-off from a concerned member of the public, and a horrified inspector found that the dog's ear had become ulcerated.

The couple were convicted of causing unnecessary suffering in 2014, and were sentenced on Friday.

They have been disqualified from keeping dogs and cats for two years and are now under a 24-week curfew order. They have also been ordered to pay costs of £9,600.

Speaking after the case RSPCA inspector Sarah Burrows said: "[The infection] had caused his ear to become ulcerated and it was so infected that you could smell him before you saw him.

"His ear smelt very much like rotting flesh.

"I took him to a vet where the infection meant that his ear canal had to be removed. We will be looking to rehome him now."