DUMPED in a ditch with appalling injuries, Peanut the lurcher-cross looks up with forlorn eyes that tell a tragic story.
The 18 month old dog is in intensive care with a broken pelvis, fractured femur and dislocated hip after being left to die - because she was too expensive to heal. Luckily, she was spotted by a lorry driver as her life slowly ebbed away. Besides her injuries, Peanut was badly emaciated - half her true weight - and also covered in wounds. RSPCA investigators fear she had been thrown away in bushes at a lorry depot near Tilbury, Essex, because her owner did not want to pay veterinary fees.
The animal welfare charity has launched an investigation to piece together Peanut's story while vets rebuild her broken body. RSPCA animal collection officer Rebecca Yarrow revealed how it is still "touch and go" for Peanut as vets feed her by spoon by spoon - but she is still managing to wag her tail. Peanut was found wearing a tatty, brown collar but no microchip near Station Road, East Tilbury on Tuesday. A passing driver spotted her and contacted the RSPCA.
RSPCA animal collection officer Rebecca Yarrow explained: "Poor Peanut was found curled in the shrubbery in this random spot in the middle of nowhere, emaciated and injured and very, very scared. "She was so weak and skinny she could barely stand and she weighed just 6.8 kgs - the size of a large adult cat. This is half of the 15-17 kilos the vet said most lurchers her size should weigh. "We don't know how she came to be in such an out-of-the-way place but it seems likely she was dumped and just left to suffer, perhaps by someone unwilling to pay the vet fees needed to treat her broken bones.
"The vet said she would have been suffering with her untreated injuries for several months and must have been in so much pain. "She was spotted by chance by this passing lorry driver - I have no doubt she would have been dead within another 24 hours had she not been found.
"He tried to give her water but she was too weak to drink, he said, then he tried to coax her out with a peanut packet - which she has now been named after." Ms Yarrow added: "She is such a lovely, friendly dog it is heart breaking to see her have to go through something like this. She is by far the skinniest living animal I have ever seen. "It is still touch and go at the vets but they are doing all they can to try and save her and feeding her a spoonful of food at a time. She is now standing - we have yet to encourage her to wag her tail."
The RSPCA says anyone recognising Peanut or with information should contact it confidential hotline on 0300 123 8018.