Yeadon residents have been left outraged after they discovered that travellers had left a puppy locked inside a car on a field in the town.
West Yorkshire Police officers rescued the puppy that was in an abandoned vehicle left by travellers on Sunday morning (26 July) at Nunroyd Park following their departure during Saturday evening.
The residents had made complaints to the force and online after seeing anti-social behaviour from the group, who arrived on Thursday (23 July). The group also dumped litter on the green space, including dirty nappies, human excrement and food package waste.
One resident who did not wish to be named, claims they even saw children “torturing” the swans by throwing sticks and stones at them. When challenged and told to stop, they shouted: “F*** off”.
The resident said: “It was pretty horrendous.
“Me and other residents were out yesterday at 6.30am to make sure the swans were okay, we never heard anything and never thought to look in the car. It was only when the police came and they saw the puppy in the car. It had been in there the whole night.
"Police rescued it from the abandoned car, the poor thing was distressed and taken to a vets in Bradford.
“They left the park in a disgrace, the kids were torturing wildlife, they were defecating everywhere but the police don’t appear to have any power to do anything.
“It’s been a horrible experience. They’ve moved now but they will go and do the same thing somewhere else. They need a permanent site.
“It’s not fair on the residents who have to pay tax and it doesn’t seem like the police have power over them. I’m just glad it’s over.”
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police was unable to verify specific details about the dog, but did confirm they visited the park after a call from a member of the public.
Leeds City Council also stated they were unaware of the puppy, but a spokesperson said: "We did undertake a clean-up of the site following the police taking action against the travellers illegally residing on the site."
