Knottingley: Tiny dachshund puppy's body found dumped in plastic bag with ringworm and alopecia

RSPCA officers have now collected the body of the puppy - and said that suspicious circumstances surround the discovery.   

The charity was alerted to the upsetting find on Saturday (January 20), when a female dachshund aged between four and six-weeks-old was discovered in a plastic bag and wrapped in a red blanket.

It was abandoned in bushes in Pontefract Road - next to Ferrybridge Cemetery - in Knottingley.

A veterinary examination showed the puppy had ringworm and alopecia, the latter of which appears to have been treated with Sudocrem. There was also evidence that a flea treatment had been applied and had caused her to become ill. She is believed to have died less than 24 hours earlier.

That incident came just days before another puppy was found on Wednesday (January 24) in Doncaster, which was bloated and decomposed and had been covered by a blue blanket next to her discarded bed.

Animal rescue officer Ollie Wilkes, who collected the body of the dachshund puppy, said: “Incidents like this are extremely upsetting for members of the public to come across, and we’d like to thank everyone who stopped to help.

“For those of us who love our pets and treat them as part of the family, it’s difficult to understand how someone could dump the body of a dog in circumstances like these.

“Every abandonment call we get tells a different story, but the cost of living crisis is clearly having an impact. Sadly, with more owners feeling the pinch, we've seen many resorting to desperate measures - like dumping animals who perhaps become ill or they can no longer afford or don’t want anymore.

“Coupled with a boom in pet ownership during the pandemic - with some new owners potentially unprepared for the long-term commitment - it has left us facing huge animal welfare challenges.” 

Incidents of animal abandonment are at a three-year high. In 2023, the RSPCA’s emergency line received 20,999 reports about a dumped animal - more than in 2022 (19,645), 2021 (17,179) and 2020 (16,118). Reports were 30% higher in 2023 than in 2020. 

The charity says the current economic climate, combined with the pandemic, has created a perfect storm for animal welfare and its officers are seeing the impact on the frontline - with reports of abandoned animals increasing as owners resort to desperate measures.

A third case is also being investigated in Yorkshire after a muzzled XL bully dog was found on Monday (January 22) after she was believed to have been thrown to her death from a bridge in Sheffield.

Anyone with information about these incidents can contact the RSPCA’s appeals line on 0300 123 8018.