RSPCA 'inundated' with adoption requests for drowning dog found tied to rock in Nottinghamshire river

Poor Bella was thrown into the Trent and would have drowned if a brave passer-by hadn't pulled her to safety.

Nottinghamshire Police responded to a report that a dog, a Belgian Shepherd believed to be called Bella, was hauled to safety by a brave member of the public after she was spotted in the River Trent at Farndon, near Newark, at around 8.45am on Monday, January 6.

A rock had been wrapped in a carrier bag and tied to the dog’s lead.

Two people, a 32-year old man and 31-year old woman, were arrested in connection with the ‘evil and nasty’ incident and have since been released under investigation.

There was an outpouring of support for pooch, who is recovering at a local vet, with the local branch of the RSPCA ‘inundated’ with requests to adopt Bella.

A spokesman for the branch said: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone, and there has been a lot of you, who have expressed an interest in Bella's welfare.

“However we are a charity shop and office of the RSPCA Nottingham and Nottinghamshire branch. As such we don’t re-home animals.

“We can say that we've been told Bella is responding well in veterinary treatment and will now be taken into the care of the RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Centre.

“We have been inundated here with good wishes and offers to re-home her.

“She is currently unavailable for re-homing but we would encourage people interested in adopting a dog to visit https://www.rspca.org.uk/findapet where there are hundreds of dogs looking for homes.

“Once again, thanks to all the members of the public for their help in this investigation and inquiries are continuing.”

Inspector Heather Sutton, Nottinghamshire Police’s neighbourhood policing inspector for the Newark area, said: “Britain is undoubtedly a nation of animal lovers, which has been demonstrated by the overwhelming support we have received from members of the public to help Bella and assist our officers with their investigation into this particularly sad case.

“I would like to thank the public for their support, which has meant that we have a number of lines of enquiry that we will be following up as part of our continuing work to understand the circumstances surrounding this incident.

“Animal cruelty investigations can often be very complex, so it’s important that we take our time to properly understand this case to ensure that the appropriate action is taken against whoever may be responsible and bring the offenders to justice.

“While we have made two arrests, I would continue to encourage anyone with any information to come forward to police as soon as possible.”