The owners of a severely neglected dog that passed away while vets worked to save her appeared in court on Monday and were given a fine and lifetime ban from owning animals.

The dog, named Ruby by rescuers, was found wandering around Ogden and was brought to an emergency veterinary clinic on September 5, 2014 suffering from malnutrition and severe eye and ear infections.

The bulldog-cross died from her injuries during surgery and cruelty investigators called it one of the worst cases of animal neglect that they had ever seen.

Investigators searched a home connected to the dog’s death and seized 11 other animals that were also suffering from neglect.

Janice Piper and Jamie O’Leary were charged under the Animal Protection Act with respect to four animals, including Ruby.

On Monday, Piper and O’Leary both pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary distress to an animal.

 “The animal that started the investigation was one of the worst cases of neglect I’ve ever seen, doing this for twelve years. It was almost made worse by the disposition of the animal, which was super sweet despite the injuries and the conditions the dog was suffering. So we’re quite satisfied to be able to bring it as far as court and certainly with today’s ruling, the lifetime ban is really what we were after, especially in Mr. O’Leary’s case, where he’s a repeat offender,” said Brad Nichols, Senior Manager, Animal Cruelty Investi­gations.

They were both handed a lifetime ban from owning animals and a $2500 fine.