Portrait of a mourning mother
Abandoned spaniel found nuzzling her dead puppies by the roadside
IT’S a scene to melt the hardest of hearts. Lying by the side of the road, a dog nuzzles a carrier bag with her four dead puppies inside.
The spaniel mother ‘ had tears in her eyes’ as she forlornly licked the fish and chips bag, said the cyclist who found her.
Now the RSPCA are investigating who could have cruelly abandoned the three-year- old, who they have named Carly, and her newborn pups.
The tragic scene was discovered by Paul Skinner, a Tory councillor, as he cycled along a road in Midville, Lincolnshire.
He said: ‘The dog was on her own, sitting licking the contents of a fish and chips carrier bag. The bag contained four dead pups.
‘It was heartbreaking. She had tears in her eyes.’
The 58-year- old alerted the police, the RSPCA, and a local greyhound sanctuary, which came to rescue the spaniel and to try to resuscitate her puppies.
Mr Skinner added: ‘I could not believe anybody could be so devoid of humanity to do something like this.’
Mick Fern, of Fen Bank Greyhound Sanctuary, said it wasn’t clear whether the puppies were still alive when they were abandoned.
He added: ‘Their mother was staying with them, come what may. It was a very sad scene.’
The RSPCA, which is now caring for Carly, said that she has a microchip, but that has only led back to the original breeder.
It is now appealing for more information about where the dog could have come from and how she came to be abandoned.
RSPCA inspector Becky Harper said: ‘It is a terribly upsetting incident. It looks like this little dog has been cruelly dumped along with her newborn pups.
‘We don’t know whether the puppies were stillborn or whether they died because of the cold.
‘Fortunately, Carly appears to be in good health and is being well looked after.’