A preschool owner has gone on trial accused of neglecting her dog.

Marie Elizabeth Staniforth, who owns Acorns Pre School in Cleator Moor, appeared before magistrates in Workington yesterday accused of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal between January and February this year.

Staniforth, 32, denies the charge.

Joan Singleton, owner of Fairview Boarding Kennels, told the court she received a call on February 16 from someone claiming to have found a stray lurcher-type dog on an industrial estate in Cleator Moor.

The court heard the woman had given Staniforth's mobile phone number and her address in Highfield Road, where the dog was collected from.

Martyn Fletcher, an RSPCA inspector with 17 years experience, told the court he had never seen a dog so thin survive.

He said: "It was clearly in a very emaciated condition.

"It was standing up but was very wobbly and weak on its feet."

The dog was treated by Millcroft Veterinary Group before being rehomed.

Mr Fletcher told the court he visited the house where the dog was collected to try to speak to the finder but received no reply but spotted a dog cage containing what he believed to be two or three-day-old faeces outside.

The court heard the RSPCA launched an appeal to trace the dog's owner and received about 30 replies, about 25 of which identified Staniforth as the owner or the address, where the defendant had lived, as its home.

Staniforth, now of Gatesyde Place, Eskdale Green, Holmrook, was cautioned and interviewed by Mr Fletcher in March and said the dog, called Charlie, had gone missing during a walk on January 24 and she was not responsible for its condition.

But Hayley Dawkins, a community nurse, told the court she had called at the house on February 3 and noticed a dog matching Charlie's description in the porch.

Staniforth said she had returned to the route she normally walked the dog to look for him and asked people if they had seen him.

The court heard she then asked her sister for advice but did not report the dog missing and instead decided to wait and see if the dog was returned.

The court heard that Staniforth, who got the dog from the Animal Concern last September, said she been spending more time at her partner's home in Whitehaven after the dog disappeared because she did not feel safe in the Highfield Road house without the animal.

She later moved to her current address.

Staniforth denied she was the one who called the kennels and said she was not the person who handed over the dog.

She added: "Prior to today I had never seen Joan Singleton before."

Steven Marsh, prosecuting, asked: "If you cared for the dog from September to January and it ran off, wouldn't you have done something more about it?"

Staniforth said: "I should have done and I didn't take all the action I should have taken."

Staniforth listened intently while the court heard evidence from character witnesses who said she "adored" the dog and spoke of no concerns about its condition.

The trial continues.