Fisherman relives horror of finding two dogs tied together and weighted down in County Tyrone lough

A fisherman has relived the horror of discovering two dead German Shepherd dogs which had been tied together and weighted down in a lough in County Tyrone.

The Police have launched an investigation and the USPCA has doubled a reward to one thousand pounds for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for the cruelty.

John Herron was preparing to fish on a pontoon off the Carricklongfield Road near Aughnacloy on Friday evening when he spotted something unusual in the water.

“I actually thought it was a cow, to be honest, the two dogs were that gassed up” he said, “but then I realised that they were two dogs. I started calling at the neighbours thinking maybe they had escaped and fallen in. I never thought for a minute that they had been weighed down. I was devastated. I was sick”.

It's unknown if the dogs were alive when tied up and weighted down with a dumbbell.

The Police have launched an investigation and a post-mortem will be carried out to determine how they died.

The USPCA has doubled a reward to £1000 for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for the deaths of the two German Shepherds.

The USPCA is appealing to members of the public with any information to come forward immediately and alert the PSNI.

USPCA Chief Executive, Nora Smith, said, “This is a horrific sickening case of animal cruelty, and we are appalled to see such barbaric abuse.

"We cannot comprehend the motives of anyone who can carry out such brutal attacks against vulnerable animals like this.

“Unfortunately this is a stark reminder of the many challenges we are facing regarding animal welfare in Northern Ireland. We are encouraging anyone with information that may assist the PSNI in their investigation to contact them.”

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