A MOTHER and son have been banned from keeping animals for life after pleading guilty to neglecting their pet dog.

Magistrates heard how Norma and Harry Skilton, of Greenbank Road, Darlington, failed to take the four-year-old collie to a vets after the dog was infested with fleas and skin infections.

Kevin Campbell, for the RSPCA, said that the dog, called Benji, was taken to a vet in Darlington where it was diagnosed with chronic dermatitis, alopecia, and was infested with fleas.

The dog was also 20 per cent below its normal body weight and the hair had been shaved off its back.

Mr Campbell said: "Several of the problems had been long standing and there is no doubt that the dog suffered great discomfort.''

Benji has since made a full recovery and is now living in a foster home, which Mr Campbell said proved that veterinary treatment was needed to cure the problem.

Bishop Auckland magistrates heard how Mrs Skilton, 45, admitted she did not really know how to care for the dog and a man had come to her home to shave its fur in an attempt to ease the discomfort of the infection.

It was suggested that the pair had not deliberately neglected Benji and thought they were doing what they could to care for the dog, believing that it did not need veterinary treatment.

Both Mrs Skilton and her 21-year-old son were banned from keeping animals for life, as well as being fined £200 each and ordered to pay £120 costs each.