A woman who allowed her 13 cats and two dogs to starve for more than a month has escaped jail.

Lucy Spiers of John Street, South Norwood, pleaded guilty to five charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals and four charges of neglecting her pets' welfare by keeping them in unhygienic and hazardous conditions, when she appeared at Croydon Magistrates Court in November 2011.

The pets were removed from the 34-year-old's care after RSPCA officers executed a warrant at her address last June.

Andrew Wiles, prosecuting, said: "The premises themselves were in poor condition, with the pungent smell of urine and faeces throughout."

An examination by a vet found both dogs, a Rottweiler cross called Jessie, and a Staffordshire bull terrier cross named Kip, were underweight.

Mr Wiles said: "Jessie weighed 23.1kg, all of the major bones were apparent, a dog of this type should of weighed in the region of 30kg.

"Kip weighed 18.95kg in examination, he should have weighed about 22kg."

The cats were all under-fed apart from one, and one was found to have an ear infection, while another had an eye infection, both of which should have been treated.

Jaysen Seebrouth, defending, said Spiers kept the animals for comfort and had attempted suicide since the pets were removed from her care.

He said: "She has had difficulties with her child settling at school, with her accommodation and finances. She has suffered from poor hygiene, poor living conditions and it all took time for her to turn her life around.

"It's been of great pain to her what has happened."

Appearing for sentencing at Croydon Magistrates Court on January 9, Spiers was ordered to complete 140 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12 month order. She was also disqualified from having pets and ordered to pay costs of £300.

A spokeswoman for the RSPCA, said: "There is no excuse for allowing animals to suffer like this. If pet owners cannot cope with their animals they should seek help and not simply neglect their animals and allow them to suffer.

"Pets rely on their owners to be responsible and look after them properly."