Two more dogs have been found dead in Yorkshire after being wrapped in blankets and abandoned.

RSPCA officers have collected the bodies of two dogs who were found dead in suspicious circumstances in Wakefield and Barnsley.

The charity was alerted after members of the public made the upsetting discoveries in the two separate incidents.

The latest incidents involved a dachshund puppy and an adult chow type dog.

A four to six-week-old female dachshund puppy was the first to be found on Saturday (January 20).

The dog had been put in a plastic bag and wrapped in a red blanket before being abandoned in bushes on 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.

On Wednesday (January 24) the charity’s officers were called out to Grimethorpe after an adult chow type dog was found in a stream off the High Street.

The matted tan-coloured dog, possibly female, was bloated and decomposed and had been covered by a blue blanket next to her discarded bed.

Although there were no obvious injuries, it wasn’t possible to do an examination because of the length of time she’d been in the water. 

A scan revealed a foreign microchip which couldn’t be traced and officers believe the circumstances in which she was found are suspicious.

A third case is also being investigated in Yorkshire after a muzzled XL bully dog was found on Monday (January 22).

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.

'Extremely upsetting'

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.”