RSPCA appeal after young dog found dead in canal in Wolverhampton

The RSPCA is appealing for information after a young dog was found dead in a canal in Wolverhampton.

The animal’s body was spotted floating in the water by an off duty policeman and his wife who were walking their dogs on the Coseley canal near Bilston on 22 April, 2022.

After using a stick to pull the body out, they contacted the RSPCA. 

The charity’s inspector Claire Davey attended the scene to collect the dog, who wasn’t microchipped. 

The officer was unable to establish the sex of the animal because of decomposition.

It's thought to have been in the water for no more than a couple of days.

Staff found that the dog also had a suspicious-looking cut, which ran in a straight line along the entire length of the abdomen, although it’s not known how or when this injury occurred.

Inspector Davey said: “While it’s possible that this may be someone's missing pet, I’m not ruling out the possibility of foul play, especially given the nasty injury that the dog had sustained.

It’s incredibly sad and upsetting to find animals in circumstances like this and we would appeal to anyone with information to come forward.” 

The RSPCA says this discovery in Bilston is the latest in a series of horrific incidents in recent months involving dogs in the West Midlands.

In March, a female dog, with what appeared to be a ligature tied around her neck, was found dead in a ditch between Brownhills and Great Wyrley, prompting an appeal for information by the RSPCA.

The animal welfare charity also asked for the public’s help in February, after a French bulldog was discovered in a bag weighed down with bricks close to the lock on the Walsall Canal at Tipton.

In December, construction workers found three newborn puppies dead in a bin bag - again in the canal at Tipton - while a young male Shih Tzu which had been dumped in a toolbox in the Trent and Mersey canal at Burton upon Trent was also reported the same month.

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