Injured Dog thrown from moving car
10/05/2008 RSPCA appeals for information about cruel abandonment of lurcher

A dog with a horrific leg injury was abandoned by the roadside after been thrown from a moving car.

A member of the public - who wishes to remain anonymous - came to the lurcher's aid after he saw it ejected through the open door of the vehicle as it travelled at about 20mph along a busy road in Coventry.

Staff at the RSPCA Coventry Animal Centre took the dog to a vet who said he was underweight and has a painful sore on his rump on which the flesh has been worn away leaving the bone exposed.

Glenn Mayoll, manager of the Coventry RSPCA Animal Centre, said: "It is disgusting that someone could treat a dog like this.

"At first we thought the injury might have been caused by being thrown from the car but a vet said it is an old injury.

"He needed to see a vet for the horrific wound he has on his leg. But instead of helping him he was just chucked out of a car and abandoned.

"Perhaps the owners felt that they couldn't afford to take him to a vet. But the RSPCA and the PDSA always helps animals whose owners are hard-up so there's no excuse for this.

"The wound is awful and is leaving the bone exposed. He is not very well at the moment but we are hoping he'll make a full recovery and we can find him a good home to go to."

The dog was thrown from a Ford Fiesta near the traffic lights on Longford Road near Longford Park in Coventry on Monday 28 April between 4.15pm and 4.45pm. Anyone with any information can call the RSPCA's 24-hour Cruelty Line in confidence by calling 0300 1234 999.

RSPCA Inspector Kate Garton said: "I find it amazing that someone had the nerve to do this at rush hour on a main road. We need people to call us to help us find who did this."

Ironically, he was abandonment took place during RSPCA Week during which the Society revealed it rescued some 150,000 animals in 2007.