An appeal court panel has ruled that a dog owner was rightly convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to his pet.

Stephen Cooper, 37, today failed in a bid to have an earlier court decision overturned.

Cooper had been given a 12-month community rehabilitation order by Teesside magistrates in February after they heard his doberman had been discovered by animal welfare officers drastically underweight.

He claimed the dog had been in the care of his sister-in-law for several weeks and had been in good health when he left it with her at her home in Wimbledon Close, Darlington.

But Recorder Felicity Davies, sitting with two magistrates at Teesside Combined Court, ruled that he should have been aware of the conditions in which he was leaving the dog, and what effect they might have on it.

Cooper, of West Terrace, New Marske, east Cleveland, did not have his sentence increased, and no order was made banning him from owning or caring for animals. He was, however, ordered to pay £500 towards the cost of the appeal.

Cooper had earlier told the court that he moved the doberman to Darlington while another of his dogs was in season, but had planned to have it returned.

Miss Recorder Davies described the conditions in the yard of the house in Darlington as "highly unsatisfactory" and the doberman's state as "pitiful" when RSPCA officers rescued it.

The court heard how the dog had lost up to half its body weight, its spine and ribs were visible and its eyes were sunken.