Wick Country Park Lake dead dog found dumped in bin sacks

Police officers were joined by environmental group Wickford Wombles as they attempted to locate the dog in Wick Country Park after being alerted by a member of public.

They were later joined by a member of Tilly’s Angels lost pets charity who scanned the dog for a microchip.

Initial vet inquiries found the dog was a young, black and white, male, Staffordshire bull terrier.

The incident is now being investigated by the RSPCA.

RSPCA Inspector Emma Baker said: “The circumstances surrounding the discovery of this dog’s body is suspicious.

“We are grateful to everyone who helped in this investigation - it must have been very distressing for those involved; but it’s heartening that so many agencies responded to help.

“They body was decomposed so it is not possible at this stage to establish an exact cause of death.”

The bin bags were found in Wick Country Park lake (Image: Google Maps)

The RSPCA is now appealing for any information about the death of the dog.

The incident is just the latest to be announced in a string of disturbing discoveries of dog’s bodies around south Essex.

On the same day as the Wickford discovery, residents of Barling’s Mucking Hall Road found another dead dog dumped as part of a fly-tipping.

Just days later, a member of the public in Benfleet found the body of a black and white female Lurcher. The RSPCA later determined that the dog had been tortured and shot to death.

Natalie Bartle, an RSPCA inspector for more than 25 years, said she had been left "broken" by the incident.

She said: “The suffering this poor dog has been through is just horrific and I would go as far as to say it appears she has been tortured. I cannot believe someone has done this to an innocent animal.

“I have worked for the RSPCA for over 25 years and when I saw what had happened to this poor dog’s body it just broke me - and I am determined to find the person/persons responsible for hurting this dog in such an unimaginable cruel way.”