Brian Farmer, 24, found himself in the dock for failing to provide adequate care and provision for Duke, his crossbreed American XL bully/Staffordshire bull terrier.

The Scottish SPCA got involved after a call was made to its helpline in February 2022.

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Farmer, from Nairn in the Highlands, had seemingly abandoned a property in the town.

The council forced entry and called in industrial cleaners due to the state of the house.

It was then the body of one-and-a-half-year-old Duke was discovered.

Iain Allan, Scottish SPCA chief inspector, said the property was cold, filthy and had a foul-smelling odour.

Rubbish covering the floor included empty food packets, empty chewed food tins, chewed foam from the sofa and dog faeces.

He added: "We were shocked to see the emaciated body of a large dog in the kitchen/living room area.

"It was obvious from the state of decay of the carcass that the dog had been dead for some time.

"The dog was lying stretched out on the linoleum floor in front of the chewed-up sofa."

Duke was identified, with the animal welfare charity saying Farmer's mistreatment caused the pet to "lose body weight to the point he starved to death".

Mr Allan said: "Duke's body was taken for a post-mortem report where the vet determined the cause of death as severe malnutrition."

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At Inverness Sheriff Court in July, Farmer pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to Duke.

On Monday he was handed a disqualification order from keeping animals indefinitely. He was also sentenced to a community payback order with 250 hours of unpaid work and two years' supervision.

Mr Allan added: "We are pleased that Farmer received an indefinite ban from keeping animals.

"The suffering and pain Duke endured at the hands of Farmer were absolutely shocking."