A family dog died after being stolen, beaten and thrown from a car in a barbaric attack.
Buddy was found on the roadside with his tail ripped off after being snatched from his garden last Monday.
The horror attack in Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, has led owner Keith Nagle to offer a reward for information leading to the savage gang responsible.
The 42-year-old carpenter said: “I rang in my order with a takeaway, I shot over to pick it up and when I came back to let Buddy in he was gone.”
The father of three and a friend searched the area before locals found seriously injured Buddy 250m away outside O’Reilly’s service station.
The first people that came across him on the opposite side of the path from O’Reilly’s were two young girls.
“He was just on the road and they lifted him on to the path. On finding him the two girls were screaming which attracted the attention of a lady in O’Reilly’s.”
This woman raced across to see what had happened and called the vet as the two girls helped put the dog into her car.
The service station worker brought Buddy to the local vets, but Mr Nagle received a call the following day tragically confirming Buddy hadn’t survived.
His owner said: “The vet believed his injuries were not consistent with being hit by a car, more of being thrown out of a car.”
He added the vet’s notes included: “Do you know who did this? If you do please tell us, this should never happen in a civilised society, if you have genuine information but remain silent you are part of the savage cruelty.”
Mr Nagle is concerned that because the perpetrators are still out there they could pose a risk to others. He said: “If you beat up an animal, you’d beat up a child.”
Gardai are probing the attack and will be reviewing CCTV footage.
One line of investigation is whether there is any connection to a previous report of anti-social behaviour made by Mr Nagle to gardai.
He added the community is “genuinely disgusted by this and want to see a result” after a Facebook post detailing the attack was shared.
A poster, left, offering a reward for information is being circulated.
It asks that people contact 085 1466456 to help identify those responsible.
