Sick thugs tied weights around a dog’s neck and drowned in a river.

Now an appeal has been made to trace the heartless culprit who left it to drown.

RSPCA officers are leading an investigation.

The tragic dog was discovered by Sally Greenwood and her partner Joe Fitzpatrick.

The adult male black German Shepherd was discovered on Wednesday afternoon floating in the River Colne near to Britannia Road in Milnsbridge, with the dog pulled from nearby a weir by an RSPCA inspector and a passerby who alerted them.

The RSPCA has now issued a horrific photo of the dog’s plight in the hope it persuades people to report the culprit.

RSPCA Inspector Natalie Taylor said: “I can’t comprehend what has happened. The dog was weighted down around its neck and dumped in the river near a weir.

The weir in Milnsbridge where a dog was pulled from the canal
The weir in Milnsbridge where a dog was pulled from the canal

“Me and the passerby, who had called us, struggled to pull the dog out but we managed.

“It’s so sad and we are appealing for witnesses to help our investigation, it’s a popular place so we hope there will have been people about who may have seen something.

She said the dog, which was microchipped, is distinctive as there are not many all-black German shepherd type dogs.

The RSPCA wants to hear from anyone who saw the dog in the days leading up to Wednesday.

Sally and Joe discovered the dog and called for help.

They had just dropped her car off at a garage in Thornton Lodge and were walking back to their Slaithwaite home when they made the discovery.

Joe had stopped to point out where he used to swim as a boy in the river, which runs alongside the canal near the place known locally as Horseshoe Falls.

They noticed the tail and rear end of a large dog protruding from the fast flowing water.

Joe jumped over a wall and through some brambles to investigate and found the large dead dog - its head had been weighted down and was under water.

Mother-of-two Sally said: “It made us feel sick. The water is deep there and the current is strong.

“The dog’s head was under the water, we could tell straight away that it was not lodged against something, it had been weighted down.

“We were trying to get the dog removed as it is not something you want children to see. The people who did this are just evil; it’s not right.”

Anyone with information that can help the RSPCA investigation is asked to contact Inspector Taylor 13194 or her colleagues on 0300 1234 999.

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