Saron Youn, 27, was convicted in the ACT Magistrates Court this week of neglecting his pets, which had resorted to eating sand while locked in a Kambah backyard without food or water.

Magistrate Karen Fryar said the animals looked like ''skeletons with dog fur over them'' and sentenced the man to 160 hours of community service, preferably in an animal shelter, and placed him on a good-behaviour order.

But the chief executive of the RSPCA ACT, Michael Linke, said the punishment should have been more severe.

''It diminishes the work the RSPCA does and diminishes the suffering the animals went through.''

Mr Linke said it appeared the community was not getting the message that it was wrong to ill-treat animals.

''We're handling 1000 cruelty complaints a year now.

''The only way that's going to be reduced and have an impact on positive animal welfare is if some of these people who commit deliberate acts of cruelty or neglect suffer a jail term or severe financial penalty.''

RSPCA inspectors seized Youn's dogs in October last year after receiving a call from a neighbour concerned about the animals' welfare.

The bull Arab cross, nicknamed Trevor, and the kelpie cross, now known as Eddie, were nursed back to health over the course of five months by RSPCA vets and volunteers at the Weston shelter.

Mr Linke said the dogs might not have eaten for up to six days.

''They had lost 100 per cent of their body fat and most of their muscle. So the body had started eating itself.''

Trevor found a home in April and Eddie went to a farm in Dubbo last week, after 13 months at the shelter and a handful of media appearances.

''Because he's so big he was capable of jumping suburban fences and wasn't going to suit people living in suburban Canberra. Ultimately we found the right family for him,'' Mr Linke said. ''We put the effort in. There's no time limit for how long animals can stay here.''

Mr Linke said that while he would be happy to speak with Youn about animal welfare, he did not think staff would enjoy working with the man responsible for neglecting the two dogs. ''I would probably suggest this is not the right shelter for him to work in.''

Youn said in court on Tuesday that he was having relationship problems at the time of the offence and had arranged for a friend to care for the animals while he was in Sydney.