Decomposed dog found in river 'with heavy stone'

The discovery of a decomposed corpse of a dog attached to a weight in a river is being investigated by the RSPCA.

The charity was called to Riverside Mead, in Peterborough, on 13 May, after the animal was found by a member of the public.

The RSPCA said it was an "incredibly distressing discovery" as the dog's harness had been "attached to a large heavy brick stone".

The dog was believed to have been a female terrier, about five years old, and had been dead for some time.

An RSPCA spokesperson said: "It is believed the dog was sadly most likely deliberately drowned as their harness was attached to a large heavy brick stone."

The animal welfare charity's rescue officer Maya Thakrar, who attended the scene and took the dog away, said: "This was an incredibly distressing discovery for the member of the public and we are grateful to them for reporting this to us.

"Given the items found with the dog it is likely they were probably drowned which is just unthinkably sad.

"We're urging anyone who may have seen something suspicious to please get in touch with us as we're keen to find out what happened."

The RSPCA said the dog was "possibly female" and had been dead "for a number of weeks, if not months".

The incident was also reported to Cambridgeshire Police.

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