DISTRESSING IMAGE WARNING: Dog dies after being ‘tied to fence and abandoned’ in Weeton

Blackpool pet rescue group Homeward Bound received a message late on Saturday night from a woman who said she thought she saw the black mongrel being dumped on Weeton Road.

The following day, volunteers were called to the road where they found the dog deceased.

It is believed that the male, which is a cross between a Labrador and a Collie, was hit by a car after slipping its lead, which was found tied to a fence some 300 yards away.

Homeward Bound volunteer Wendy Mulela said: “A person said they had seen a Labrador, and they didn’t know if it was alive.

“One of our volunteers went and had a look, and unfortunately the dog was dead, but it was still floppy so we don’t think it had been dead very long.

“It appears to me that some person or people have abandoned this dog in the night down this lane, and it has become stressed and slipped its collar, and in its stressed state it has run onto the road and got run over and sadly died.

“There’s no need for people to be doing that. It’s very, very tragic.”

She said the case had been passed to the RSPCA, and that a post-mortem would be carried out on the dog, which has been called Thunder.

Tributes were posted on the Homeward Bound Facebook page.

Carol Pearson said: “Heartbreaking. I hope the people who dumped the poor boy get prosecuted.”

Police confirmed they received reports of the dog being found dead at noon yesterday.

An RSPCA spokesman said: “It’s incredibly sad to hear that this poor dog was killed after being cruelly abandoned in Weeton over the weekend. If anyone has any information about where this dog came from or what happened we’d encourage them to get in touch.”