THE trial of a woman charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a lurcher dog is due to start today (Tuesday).

Marie Staniforth, 31, pleaded not guilty in June to a charge that she “failed to act, namely by unreasonably failing to adequately investigate and treat the cause of the dog's poor body condition”.

The two-year-old dog, called Spot by the RSPCA, was found on the Leconfield Industrial Estate in Cleator Moor in February.

The trial at Workington Magistrates' Court is listed for two days.