A SEVERELY underweight dog with multiple broken bones is being cared for by Catley Cross Veterinary Clinic after being dumped.

Named Peanut, the 18-month-old lurcher/whippet cross was taken to the Wickham St Paul-based vets by the RSPCA.

She was emaciated - less than half the weight she should have been - and has untreated injuries including a fractured femur, broken pelvis and dislocated hip which the vet believes she is likely to have suffered with for many months.

She was also covered in wounds and in an extremely weak state.

The RSPCA was called after a lorry driver spotted her by a ditch near Station Road, East Tilbury, last Tuesday.

RSPCA animal collection officer Rebecca Yarrow said: "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.

"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 has launched an investigation and anyone with information about Peanut should call 0300 123 8018, in complete confidence.

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