A DOG owner has been jailed for five months on animal cruelty charges after his pup was found in a foul state.

A police officer attending a property in Dunfermline said it was the worst place he had ever seen in 20 years of policing.

Dog 'Milo' was so severely malnourished that his ribs and pelvic bones were clearly visible through the skin, but his owner Michael Harris, blamed the weight loss on Milo's digestive problems.

Harris began cutting down his dog's food after the advice of another dog owner.

He then kept Milo under the care of his friend Sean Wilkie, who has an outstanding warrant, in squalor conditions.

Depute fiscal, Dev Kapadia, told Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, that police officers first attended a house in Leny Place in relation to another matter.

"Officers entered the property by breaking a door panel and what they came upon was a shocking sight. The stench of the smell was so great that they had to keep a door ajar to allow fresh air in and get flies out of the room," Mr Kapadia told the Court.

Officers found discarded food and drink containers that looked like they had been there for months and a bedroom that was totally unusable.

The living room contained a couch and a single stained mattress and a cage with two dogs inside it.

Faeces, urine, household waste and debris were everywhere.

The cage had no water or food and a six inch broken mirror lay beside it.

A SSPCA officer who attended the premises said she had seen the dogs before and they had been in a good condition.

"She said there had been an astounding deterioration in their health because of their living conditions," Mr Kapadia added.

"One officer said when the dogs were let out they moved with such vigour just to get some food out of a bin bag, they compared them to the movements of a trained police dog."

Harris, 24, of North Drum Street, Kelty, previously admitted that on April 11 at Leny Place, Dunfermline, North Drum Street, Kelty, and elsewhere, being responsible for a dog, he failed to take steps to ensure the needs of the animal were met by failing to provide a suitable environment.

His friend Sean Wilkie is faced with charges.

Defence solicitor, Martin McGuire, said his client has signed the pet over to the care of the authorities and admits that 'it was not fair that Milo was left in that condition.'

Sheirff Craig McSherry told Harris: "To suggest that the property was in this appalling state because of the police is absolutely ridiculous.

"These were appalling conditions and the state of emaciation of the dog is disgraceful."