A COUPLE have been banned from owning a pet for seven years after neglecting their dog so badly its fur was found sticking to its eyeballs.

Suzie the shih tzu was discovered suffering from a painful eye infection, flea-infestation and in-growing nails, Worcester Magistrates Court heard yesterday.

Factory worker Vincent Whitmore, aged 36, and his wife, Julie Ann, 35, from Brickfields Road, Brickfields, were also both fined £350 and ordered to carry out a community punishment order of 60 hours each after admitting causing unnecessary suffering at a previous hearing.

Nick Sutton, who was prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said a passing motorist found Suzie in the middle of Brickfields Road at the end of October, 2002.

"It was apparent to her that the dog could not see," said Mr Sutton. "Its hair was sticking to its eyeballs.

"It would have taken a number of weeks - possibly a number of months - for it to reach that state."

He added that the motorist took Suzie to Danemere Kennels, in Tibberton, where a vet saw her.

She was then taken to the RSPCA's rehoming centre in Bromsgrove, in December, 2002, where she was nurtured back to health.

The dog, which is believed to be around 10 years old, has now been re-homed in Redditch.

After the hearing, RSPCA inspector Julia Sly said this was a situation that the organisation saw all too often.

"As well as the in-growing nails, the dog's face was so infected and painful that she had to be anaesthetised before she would allow anyone to touch it," she said.

Barry Newton, who defended the couple, said the vet who examined Suzie commented that, although she had been neglected, she was not malnourished.