Dog found dead and lashed to lamppost with chain

Dog found dead and lashed to lamppost with chain
12:10pm Tuesday 2nd March 2010

A SECOND dog was found dead and abandoned in Enfield last night after seemingly being strangled and tied to a lamppost by a metal chain.

The Staffordshire Bull Terrier was discovered by a passer-by in Durants Road, near to the junction with Hertford Road, at around 9pm.

Its head had been trapped between a lamppost and a chain link fence, and part of the chain had been wrapped around its neck. A plastic carrier bag had been placed over its head.

The incident occurred just six weeks after a dog was found battered to death two miles away in Winchmore Hill.

The male spaniel crossbreed was discovered on January 17 shortly after a man was witnessed pulling the dog by its lead down Queen's Avenue, but nobody has as yet been arrested for the crime.

Dog owner Graham, 46, from Durants Road, discovered the body last night. He believes the dog was left there between 8.30pm and 9.10pm - the time it took him to shop in Tesco.

He said: "It was one of the worst things I have ever seen. It was disgusting. The chain was embedded two to three inches into the dog's neck.

"It makes you wonder what the area is coming to.

"I have lived here all my life and I've never seen anything like this.

"At first I thought it was just a toy or a teddy bear, but when I saw what it was I was completely shaken up.

"It still haunts me now."

Enfield police are not investigating the case as a veterinary surgery advised officers the death was accidental.

The RSPCA, however, said the same veterinary surgery had never used the term "accidental" when discussing the case with them.

Instead, it said, cause of death could not be established because there were "no obvious signs of trauma".

The RSPCA is due to collect the body from the Hertford Road surgery today, where it was taken by police last night.

Several dog lovers have already criticised both the police and RSPCA for lack of action concerning the previous death, and many have since taken matters into their own hands.

A [a social network] site set up to try to find the Winchmore Hill killer has attracted more than 2,000 members, and a reward fund dependent on public donations currently stands at £400.

Residents have also funded a post-mortem for the first dog, which they have named Billy, because the RSPCA will only do so after a suspect has been questioned.

Jo Roberts, 44, from Hertford Road, who owns five dogs, said: "It is disgraceful how little the authorities do with cases like these.

"This is the second really horrible death of a dog in six weeks and nobody seems to care at all.

"The RSPCA just sit back and wait for information to come to them and the police find excuses not to do anything at all.

"It all comes down to us residents. It's a joke."

RSPCA officers have the same legal powers as the police to investigate animal cruelty cases, but significantly less resources.

Only one investigating officer covers Enfield, Waltham Cross, Cheshunt and part of Broxbourne.

RSPCA spokesman Andy Robbins reacted to criticism that the organisation relied on the police to dispose of the body.

He said: "This is not the direct responsibility of the RSPCA. If the dog is dead, there is nothing we can do to help it.

"Because we work in a rota system, it will come lower in our list of priorities than if it was alive and we could intervene.

"Police have masses of officers for every area, but we have only one for a huge area, so we have to direct our resources effectively.

"We rely heavily on the public contacting us to give us any leads, which we can then follow up."

Anyone with any information about this attack can call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

Thats so upsetting, makes you think that there is someone who's deliberately harming them doesn't it, in which case is evil

Poor poor dog, what an awful way to die

Whoever has done this should be dealt with the same way

OMG how awful, what a pity nobody saw what happened

How on earth can it be accidental when the collar was embedded into it's neck so much

Poor wee thing, it breaks your heart to think of the pain and suffering it went through.

Scum of the earth who did that.

Someone is doing it on purpose, nothing accidental about it what a stupid thing to say, and as usual the RSPCA are not interested, the police too seem to have very little regard for animals, unfortuanately if there is a sadistic dog hater on the loose in this area how many more dogs will die before the authorities take some responsibility.

Hi,

i feel so much for the dogs who have died but at least they'r ein a better place now.

It's no surprise that the RSPCA and Police can't be bothered. neither organisation wanted to know when Yiannis was attacked. I'm still arguing aith the Police over it.

In a nutshell, the RSPCA are able to prosecute for animal cruelty, whereas the Police are under a legal duty to investigate fully any criminal offence. Even though the Police may not be able to do as much in terms of animal welfare, they should automatically start an investigation. Should the RSPCA wish to take it on, the 2 organisations should work together, not try to palm the crime off onto each other, making excuses and blaming each other for not doing their jobs (which is what I had to put up with).

I agree though - the scum who is doing this deserves the same treatment (in public too).

Laura xx

i have just read on a news website about a dog that was set on fire in liverpool this was a one year old bull terrier which was stolen

these cases show be dealt with properly by the police i blelive that we should follow there lead (pardon the pun) and treat anyone harming any animal should be dealt the same as harming a human which i belive would make these people think

i just read about this too
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liver...0252-25963446/

WHY FFS

what made this worse was that it wasnt even their dog