A man has spoken of his grief and anger after his dog was fatally injured by eating meat packed with nails and screws left in a Keighley park.

Highfield resident John Pickard said Molly, an eight-year-old Weimaraner, was left vomiting blood shortly after coming across the meat in Devonshire Park.

He rushed her to a vet in Bradford who operated on her immediately, but Molly died two hours later.

Mr Pickard, a 49-year-old father of two, said he was devastated and shocked. “It’s disgusting – why would someone do something like this?”

He had been taking Molly for her usual morning walk in Devonshire Park on Tuesday. She was off her lead and emerged from some trees chewing on something.

Mr Pickard said: “I got her to drop it and thought it was just a chicken bone, then I saw it was actually a piece of raw sausage meat with screws and panel pins stuck into it.

“I went over to where Molly had come from and found at least half-a-dozen more pieces of meat with nails in.

“At first I was relieved because I thought Molly hadn’t eaten it, but when we got back home, within ten or 15 minutes she was vomiting up a lot of blood.”

He said an x-ray at the vets indicated Molly had swallowed a large quantity of the metal and suffered terrible internal injuries. She was dead by 2pm.

Mr Pickard, who has kept animals for many years, said Molly had been a well-behaved, affectionate dog. “I’d owned her for about 12 weeks – a couple in Knaresborough had been looking for a good home for her and she took to me straight away,” he added.

He took a photograph of some of the meat pieces, which his daughter posted online to warn other dog owners.

A regional RSPCA spokesman said: “It does sound deeply distressing and must have been horrific for the owner. All our sympathies are with him.

“If anyone has information about this, they can report it to ourselves on 0300 1234999 as well as to the police.

“We’d advise people in the area to be careful and vigilant. Although it can be difficult, we would ask that people do try to prevent their dogs from eating anything when they’re out walking.”

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