A woman who let her dog's ear infection get so bad that the animal "squirmed on the floor in agony" has been disqualified from keeping animals for life.

On Wednesday, magistrates handed down the lifetime disqualification order along with an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, to Kathryn Morrell, 51, of Glyn Road, Wallasey.

She was also ordered to do 160 hours of unpaid community work and pay £740 costs.

Morrel had earlier pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to her dog, Reo, a nine-year-old German Shepherd, by failing to address a chronic wound on the animal's head.

In April this year, an RSPCA inspector visited Morrell's house following a call from a concerned member of the public.

When RSPCA inspector Anthony Joynes arrived, he found Reo with large open wounds to her ears, jaw and eye, which were believed to have been self-inflicted.

Morrell told him that Reo had been booked in for euthanasia as a result of the injuries, but Mr Joynes took Reo into the RSPCA's care where she started a long course of treatment.

Today Reo is fully recovered and will soon be available for rehoming.

Inspector Joynes said: