Solicitor offers reward in finding dog killers

A solicitor has offered a £1,000 reward for information about those behind the death of a dog on Hallowe’en night.

The Labrador-Collie crossbreed was tied to a bonfire and burned by a gang of youths in the Glebe area of Sion Mills in Co Tyrone, on Sunday.

Jim McFarland from Lisburn said the incident "plumbed new depths in animal cruelty" and that he would give the reward to anyone who could help the police find those behind the killing.

"There will be many people there who already feel bad about it and it is their duty to go to the police and to inform them who did it,” he said.

The dog's owner, Mary Wilson, said she was devastated by the death but praised local residents who tried the save the animal but were beaten back by flames.

"It was terrible, I couldn't believe that anybody could do that to an animal," she said.

A spokesperson for the USPCA condemned the incident but said that it was just one of many incidents that occurred throughout the year.

"In the course of our work we come across some pretty blatant and mindless acts of cruelty against animals,” he said.

"Unfortunately at times like Hallowe’en, when some sort of social responsibility gets diminished right across the board, people carry out these acts and think they are funny."

(MB/GMCG)