A cruel dog-owner has been jailed after a German Shepherd puppy starved to death in a tiny crate - where it had been kept inch-deep in its own excrement for up to seven months. Paul James Brunsden, 25, was jailed for 20 weeks and banned from ever keeping an animal again after a court heard how he “effectively tortured” the dog, named Jack, in one of the worst cases of animal cruelty investigators had ever seen. The co-owner of the tragic puppy, Stacey Louise Lockhurst, was warned she faces a similar sentence for her part in the cruelty. Sentencing Brunsden at Dartford Magistrates Court, Judge Michael Kelly said: “It is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty I have ever come across. This dog was effectively tortured and neglected.” Brunsden, of Hornchurch, East London, and 27-year-old Lockhurst both pleaded guilty to two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to the black and tan dog. One charge was for not addressing the fact the pet was underweight and another for keeping it caged in a small, squalid crate. RSPCA inspectors visited Lockhurst’s former home in Erith, in October 2010, when Jack was just 16 weeks old. They recommended the plastic box he was kept in be taken away and gave the pair - who jointly owned the dog - advice on training. Noticing they were struggling, the inspectors suggested they hand over ownership. Dead But seven months later, they found Jack dead in the same crate, covered by a curtain. The RSPCA was called out to the address in May last year and found the dog, which was less than a year old, along with a cat and two kittens that were also seized. At the hearing on Wednesday, August 1, prosecutor Andrew Wiles said: “When the top of the crate was removed it was clear the dog was emaciated. There was an inch or more of faeces covering all of the floor of the crate except where the dog was laying.” The container was festering with flies and maggots and littered with plastic bags and a takeaway food carton. A water bowl was full of excrement. A post mortem examination showed Jack was emaciated, had no fat and likely died of starvation.