A YORK couple have been found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog after it was found in an emaciated state by an RSPCA inspector.

Chris and Jill Burns, aged 29 and 27, of Tudor Road, Acomb, were told that they did not do enough to look after the elderly German Shepherd, called Jet, when they agreed to take him from their friend, Colin Wrench, in the spring of last year.

When Jet was found in a shed in the couple's garden by RSPCA inspector Gillian Corder on July 20, last year, his ribs were visible, and his coat was matted and caked in mud.

He was suffering from muscle wasting on his temple and back end.

The couple were each ordered to pay costs of £500 and conditionally discharged for three years by York magistrates yesterday.

But they will be allowed to keep their own animals, which include dogs, a cat, birds and fish, because there was no evidence that they were being mistreated.

The court heard that Jet - renamed DJ by RSPCA staff in York - weighed only 28.3kg when he was seized but has since reached a weight of more than 40kg. He will now be rehomed.

Veterinary surgeon Mark Goodman, of Minster Veterinary Practice, in Salisbury Road, York, testified that Jet ate ravenously after examination. Simple care had returned him to health.

He said the dog had been starved for at least three weeks.

Dominic Harteveld, assistant manager of The Windmill pub, in Blossom Street, testified that he knew Jet when he was in Mr Wrench's care and said the dog often refused food.

But when asked if Jet would have starved himself for two weeks he said: "He wouldn't do it."

Michael Dodd, presiding, said: "We accept that Mr and Mrs Burns were well-intentioned towards Jet. They made some efforts to look after him - in our view they did not do enough."

Updated: 10:16 Saturday, March 23, 2002