A MAN left two dogs to starve to death in a locked bedroom, a court heard.

RSPCA inspectors found the bodies after forcing their way in. One had been dead for around 10 days and one for about seven.

Jamie Daniel Broadbent, 19, had left two-and-a-half bags of dog food inside the room, at his former home in Bacup’s Hammerton Street, Burnley magistrates were told.

But German shepherd Roxy and terrier Cassie were not able to eat from the bags and vets later determined that they died from dehydration.

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Christopher Wyatt, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA,‎said the defendant had effectively abandoned the dogs to their fates.

The RSPCA first became involved when Broadbent’s former landlord asked officers to attend at one of his properties, which had been empty for five weeks.

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‎Mr Wyatt said that the handles had been taken off one of the bedroom doors. An inspector had to ‘bash’ a hole in the door and discovered the dogs inside.

There were two-and-a-half bags dog food in the bedroom but it was apparent that one of the dogs had been dead for several days.

Mr Wyatt said: “The defendant has given no other explanation other than that he was depressed at the time.”

Broadbent, now of Hobart Street, Burnley, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs between February 1 and February 28 this year.

Magistrates remanded him on bail for pre-sentence reports until January 8.

Rebecca Stanton, defending, said she accepted that the starting point for the offence was a high-level community penalty.

The probation service may be able to probe further issues with the defendant, as there was clearly a mental health issue, she told the court.

Broadbent had no previous criminal convictions, she added, and it was clear that there must have been ‘something quite significant’ in his life to have prompted his involvement in the offence.