Police are investigating after a dead dog was found hanging from a tree.

The young rottweiler cross was discovered on land behind the Fagley Youth Centre suspended by a piece of wire flex and a tyre inner tube.

Police have removed the dog and officers are waiting for a vet to confirm if it was killed by the hanging.

The dog, known as Onyx, had been missing for a day and its owners had asked neighbours and in shops to try to find it.

Resident Linda Bass-Woodcock said: "It was sickening. I went down there with the owner to show her where it was and it was atrocious. There was blood coming from the dog's mouth.

"We were both in tears. It is really upsetting to think what people can do. What must they have been thinking of?"

She believes the incident could be linked with two other cruelty cases which have happened in the last few weeks in the immediate area.

Last week a horse was poisoned, but recovered, after children were seen feeding it with tablets and she knows neighbours whose two kittens were found dead in a washing machine four weeks ago.

Miss Bass-Woodcock said: "We want to make people aware to keep their animals safe and to watch out for them. The people who did this must be very disturbed."

RSPCA Chief Inspector Derek Woodfield said it was not possible to link all three cases because neither the horse nor the kittens incident had been reported.

He said any information about any of the cruelties should be brought forward.

Inspector David Holdsworth, of Eccleshill police, said: "We went to a hanging dog. The dog has been removed and is with a vet to establish the cause of death and inquiries are continuing to find the person or persons responsible.

"It must have been very shocking to the people who found it."

Anyone with information is asked to ring Eccleshill police on Bradford (01274) 376059.

The owner of the dog, Rachel Lister, 19, of Farleton Drive, said the whole family were devastated.

She said: "He was really, really placid and was only a puppy really, not a one-year-old until January or February.

"We had let him out in the garden. The next-door neighbour saw someone put a rope around the dog's neck and she saw a lad smack him. We found out the following teatime Onyx had been hanged. His face was all messed up and it was really bad. He probably had struggled and would have gone in pain."

l Eccleshill police yesterday confirmed a 12-year-old boy has been questioned in relation to the incident and released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.