A greyhound has been found mutilated, covered in blood and mud on a grass verge in Bedlington, Northumberland – less than three miles from Cambois dog track. His ears had been hacked off with a sharp implement and had electricians tape on his legs and back.
 
Staff at the vets where he is now recovering have named him 'Dougie' and he is the third greyhound in as many months to be mutilated in such a fashion - sadly he was the only one to survive such an attack.
 
The RSPCA have launched an investigation and are appealing for anyone with any information to come forward to help identify those responsible in what RSPCA Inspector Ian Smith has described as a “sickening act of cruelty”
 
 "It is clear this dog's ears have been removed by a sharp implement, which must have caused him unimaginable pain and distress. Thankfully he was rescued early and taken to safety, else he easily could have died".
 
Although Dougie’s ears - cruelly stamped with identifying tattoos at the tender age of 10 weeks - have now been cut off, it is still possible to identify him through DNA sampling – if he was bred in Ireland.
 
Please watch the news report below and wonder how this gentle, passive and obliging breed can sustain such torture yet continue to be so forgiving.