Dog found dumped at side of roadside, wrapped in bin bags

A MASTIFF dog has been found dead and wrapped in bin bags alongside a remote country lane, writes Ciaran Fagan.

The female dog was found after a member of the public spotted her body at the roadside in Dawsons Lane, Burrough on the Hill, south of Melton, on Sunday afternoon.

They contacted an animal welfare group, which came out to retrieve her.

The group, Animals Angels which is run by two volunteers, took her to a vet and paid for her to be cremated.

Today, one of the volunteers, Emma Pearce, said the RSPCA had told her it would not have carried out a post-mortem examination to determine a cause of death because the animal had been exposed to the elements for too long.

Emma and her Animals Angels companion Angela Jones described the dog as “a big beautiful girl” and posthumously named her Gabrielle.

Emma, from Wigston, said: “We received an email from a person who saw her. She’d been left at the roadside and had bags over her face and legs.

“When I got there and saw the way she had been left I was so angry I was shaking and swearing.

“I don’t know where I found the strength, but I wrapped her in a blanket and got her into my car and took her away.

“We don’t know and we won’t know how she died, but it is cruelty to just leave her out there, alive or dead.

“They could at least have buried her. It would have given her some dignity, but they couldn’t even do that for her.

“All animals deserve some dignity and we have been able to do that for her at least. She was such a beautiful dog.”

Animals Angels, who can be found on Facebook, was created to help reunite owners with missing pets.

A number of supporters have helped the group cover the £265 cost of cremation.