A woman who fed her dog on chapatis has been banned from owning or keeping any animal for ten years.

Bradford magistrates heard how a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and a German Shepherd were both found in a poor and weak condition outside Karen Rhodes' home on Christmas Eve last year.

When they were examined by a vet, each animal was said to be "grossly underweight".

The 18-month-old Staffordshire Bull - named Lady - weighed 11.2 kgs (24lbs), but within a month it managed to put on six kgs (12lbs).

The other dog known as Jenna weighed 16.4 kgs (36lbs) before the nine-month-old pet added just over six kgs (12lbs) during the same period.

When RSPCA Inspector Carol Neale went to the property she first saw Lady without food or water tied next to a coal hole with diarrhoea inside and outside it.

She then spotted Jenna tied up to a shed standing in excrement.

When Rhodes was interviewed, she said her husband told her before he went to Pakistan to feed the dogs on chapatis.

She admitted giving them four chapatis a day, claiming she could not afford to buy the dogs meat.

The court heard that both dogs were signed over to the RSPCA, restored to good health and found new homes.

Rhodes, 36, of Como Gardens, Girlington, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs by failing to provide them with proper care and attention.

She was fined £100 with £50 costs and ordered to pay £248 compensation to the RSPCA.

Representing herself, Rhodes told the court she "did not mean any harm to those animals" and stressed that they had water at all times.

Bench chairman Marian Cunning-ham described it as a very serious case of neglect.

She said: "We feel if left without attention those dogs would probably have died."

After the court case, Inspector Neale said: "I am very pleased with the length of the ban. The condition of the dogs warranted this type of penalty. The dogs are totally different now, they have put on loads of weight."

Both dogs have now been rehomed.