A disturbing case of animal abuse in southern Newfoundland has ignited calls for tougher animal protection laws.

The RCMP and members of the SPCA forced their way into a house in Dunville, Placentia Bay, this week after receiving a report that starving animals were trapped inside.

Susan Deir, a spokeswoman for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in St. John's, said they found a dead dog and another emaciated dog that was barely alive.

"When we proceeded through the house there was a dog that was tethered onto an appliance in the kitchen that was dead," she told CBC News. "There was a lot of feces in the kitchen around where the dogs were kept — feces and urine, urine-soaked towels, that sort of thing. It was awful."

The remains of a cat were found the next day. Deir, who is now caring for the surviving dog, said there was a bucket of food left for the animals in the bathroom, but it wasn't within their reach.

Under the province's current Animal Protection Act, someone guilty of cruelty to an animal can be fined from $50 to $200 for a first or second offence. The maximum fine for a third offence is $500.

Olga McWilliam-Benson, the vice-president of the St. John's SPCA, said her organization has been saying for years that the price for the kind of neglect seen in Dunville has to be much higher.

"We would like to see something in the range of $10,000, for example, as being a real deterrent," she said.

There are tougher penalties under the Criminal Code of Canada — up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 — but McWilliam-Benson said most offenders never get charged under the Criminal Code.

"The Criminal Code requires that the actions be willful. And we don't believe that most people who abuse an animal or neglect an animal do so in a willful manner. Willfulness is difficult to prove under the Criminal Code," she said.

The Liberal opposition in the province is calling for changes to the legislation, also arguing that current fines aren't sufficient.

The provincial government is expected to table a revised Animal Protection Act in the spring.

The RCMP said the investigation Dunville is continuing and criminal charges are possible. Police said they have identified the owner of the animals, but he is currently in hospital.