A HEARTLESS woman left her dog to starve to death in a cage at home while she jetted off for a week's holiday in Cyprus.

Sophie Lewis has just been jailed for 12 weeks and banned from keeping pets for life for her awful cruelty towards her two dogs.

RSPCA officers were horrified to find sandy-coloured bitch Shamps dead in a cage surrounded by putrid rubbish, and black Staffordshire bull terrier Mia on the brink of death due to starvation when they were called to the home in Limes Avenue, Chigwell.

Lewis claimed she had asked someone to look after the dogs during her break last August, but could not supply details of the pet sitter to inspectors who found the animals in a state which suggested they had not been fed for weeks.

RSPCA officer Dawn Avery said: "These dogs were simply starving. There is no excuse for leaving dogs to their own devices - they rely on us for every aspect of their care and people should always make proper arrangements."

The case follows the release of new figures which show that the number of pets abandoned across England and Wales last year soared by 57 per cent.

Officers were called to 11,586 dumped animals in 2008 - a shocking average of more than 30 a day - compared with 7,347 in 2007.

In the first two months of this year 1,432 animals were abandoned, including a neglected dog left in a bin liner and two cats dumped in a draw-string bag.

RSPCA chief officer Tim Wass said the increase was likely to be in part due to owners struggling to pay for their pets because of the recession, but warned that dumping a pet was likely to lead to a prosecution.

He said: "It is an offence to abandon any animal and there is never any excuse for doing so.

"If people have pets they cannot care for - for any reason - they can come to the RSPCA for help and advice."

For more information on the RSPCA, or to make a donation, log-on to www.rspca.org.uk.