A man who left his pet dog alone in his flat riddled with fleas and with no food has been banned from owning animals.

Darren Hughes, 48, was found guilty of neglecting his shih tzu, named Chewie, over a period of three months last summer at his home at the Six Acres Estate in Finsbury Park.

The RSPCA has said a vet decided to put Chewie down to end his suffering as fleas were “literally eating him alive”.

They were alerted to the case after a member of the public found the brown dog collapsed at Hughes’ flat with a “heavy flea burden and iron deficiency”.

Hughes was given an indefinite animal ban at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court earlier this month (February 12).

He was also sentenced to 18 weeks in jail suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154.

A cat was also removed from his flat and will now have to be rehomed.

Islington Gazette: Chewie was found riddled with fleas and with an iron deficiencyChewie was found riddled with fleas and with an iron deficiency (Image: RSPCA)

In mitigation, Hughes said an alcohol addiction resulted in him failing to provide Chewie with veterinary treatment, thereby causing unnecessary suffering.

After sentencing, RSPCA inspector Shahnaz Ahmad said: “This was a distressing case, poor Chewie had been left on his own for large periods of time while he was riddled with fleas, they were literally eating him alive.

“It’s thanks to a member of the public alerting us to the condition of this dog that he was punished for his actions.

"Sadly it was too late to save Chewie, but it does mean this individual will never be able to neglect pets in this way again.”

In evidence, the vet who saw Chewie wrote that Chewie was suffering for an "extended length of time" and was suffering chronic anaemia and ongoing blood loss. 

They said Chewie had so little haemoglobin in his blood it was not registered by their laboratory, and the dog may also have been suffering from iron deficiency anaemia, and blood test results showed signs of muscle loss and dehydration.