MORE than 20,000 people have signed a petition calling for a 10-year ban from owning animals handed to a Dursley woman who left her pet dog locked in the kitchen of a flat until it starved to death to be increased to a lifetime prohibition.

As the petition, which was set up by Brandon Williams, has received more than 10,000 signatures, it will now receive an official response from government.

Emma Forber, who appeared in court under her maiden name Emma Miles, a 28 year old mother-of-two, left the Staffordshire Bull Terrier named 'Yolo' locked in the kitchen of the council flat she rented in Oak Drive, when she moved to the Yew Tree Pub in Cam back in August 2016.

Following her formal eviction from the property, council workers clearing the property discovered that the kitchen floor was covered in faeces and a brown sludge, and subsequently discovered the emaciated corpse of a dog wrapped in a plastic bin bag, which had been placed in a cupboard.

Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court sentenced Miles to 18 weeks of custody, suspended for 12 months and to complete 180 hours of unpaid work in the community within 12 months.

Furthermore, Forber was disqualified from owning or having responsibility for any animal for 10 years and ordered to pay £1,000 towards council costs as well as a £115 victim surcharge.

Starting his petition, Mr Williams called for the 10-year ban to be increased to life.

He said: “I recently shared this info about a lady near my home who managed to escape court with such minor charges for such a serious crime and I am in deep fear that she could potentially get her hands on another animal.

“I need as many signatures as possible for the court to relook her sentence and make sure she is permanently banned from ever owning another animal.”

Petitions which reach 10,000 signatures are entitled to receive an official response from the government while those that reach 100,000 are debated in Parliament.

The petition can be found at http://bit.ly/2sbMtww