An elderly couple were eaten by their pet cats and dogs after they lay dead in their home for two weeks.

Gruesome images of the apartment – taken when rescuers broke in – show it covered in blood stains and animal poo.

Eleven animals- three dogs and eight cats – had taken to eating the couple’s bodies rather than starve to death.

One cat was found with a human bone stuck in its paw when rescuers entered the apartment in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on 16th July.

Neighbours had contacted officials over the disgusting stench coming from the flat.

Volunteers found the apartment in a shocking state of disarray with two rotting, maggot-infested human corpses inside.

Volunteer Anton Bronskikh told local media: “The apartment was in complete chaos: everything was upside down and broken, even the toilet.”

Two of the eight cats had died from dehydration.

The surviving animals were taken away, with one dog and one cat in critical condition.

Some of them were still reported to be defecating maggots due to having feasted on their owner’s infected corpses.

The surviving animals will go on a special diet to restore their health and wean them off human meat.

The pet owners were a 62-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman, a married couple who sheltered stray animals.

Investigators first reported that the couple had likely been murdered after allegedly finding evidence of a fight.

But the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Sverdlovsk Oblast is now saying: “According to preliminary data, there are no signs of a criminal death.”

The local animal rescue service Zoodozor is accepting donations of medicines, food and skincare products for the pets’ recovery.