A couple from Norwich has been sentenced after admitting to causing unnecessary suffering to their puppy. 

An RSPCA inspector was called out to a veterinary surgery after staff raised concerns for a six-month-old Staffie-cross. 

Milo was brought in by a member of the public who initially claimed they had found him wandering in the road. 

Milo was found with an untreated leg fracture and several infected sores that looked like burnsMilo was found with an untreated leg fracture and several infected sores  (Image: RSPCA)

It later emerged that they had lied to protect his owners, Casey Bernice Cook and Connor Andrew Donald Jeffrey Paice. 

In her witness statement, Inspector Emily Astilberry said: "I could see immediately that he was underweight, he was limping on his back right leg and he was covered in sores that were open and infected, oozing a smelly discharge. 

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"The sores started at his left ear, which was open, red, crusty and looked extremely painful.  

“They tracked down over the back of his neck and all the way down his back, ending a few inches above the base of his tail." 

Somebody who knew the owners took him to the vetsMilo was badly injured when he was taken to the vets (Image: RSPCA)

Cook, 26, of Bowers Avenue, Norwich, and Paice, 23, Of Gresham Road, Norwich, appeared at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on October 8 having previously pleaded guilty to two offences of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. 

In mitigation, the court heard Milo was the couple's first dog and they could not afford his treatment, especially as they were caring for two young children. 

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Cook and Paice were each sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. 

They were also both ordered to pay a £154 victim surcharge and were disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years.  

Cook and Paice were sentenced on October 8Milo has since been adopted by a local couple (Image: RSPCA)

They signed Milo over into the RSPCA’s care while investigations were ongoing and he received the treatment he needed. 

After four months with the team at the RSPCA's Block Fen centre, Milo was adopted by a local couple and their Labrador called Molly.