A dog was ‘lucky to survive’ after being ‘thrown’ from a vehicle travelling at 50mph in a rural Kent road.
Members of the public rushed the one-year-old terrier cross – now called Freya – to local vets and contacted the RSPCA after seeing the shocking incident unfold.
Inspector Kirsten Ormerod, who is now investigating, said: “We were contacted by a member of the public who reported seeing a black and tan, curly-haired dog being thrown out of the driver’s side of a flat-bed truck that was travelling at around 50mph along Benover Road in Yalding, in the direction of Collier Street, at 5.45pm on Friday evening.
“Freya was incredibly lucky to survive after being hurled from the moving vehicle at such a high speed and vets were incredibly concerned that she may have suffered internal bleeding so performed surgery immediately. Vets are monitoring her closely and have given her pain relief and I am keeping everything crossed that she pulls through after experiencing such callous cruelty.
“Witnesses described her being thrown with such force that she landed on the opposite side of the road, and the vehicle didn’t stop or even slow down.”
Witness Deborah Hollingdale said: “The woman in the car behind saw an arm stick out of the driver’s window and threw something out as they were going about 50pmh. She thought it was a teddy bear at first, then she saw it was a dog which ran onto my drive. I found her, she wasn’t making any noise. The first thing I noticed was that she looked starved. She was just skin and bones, you could see her hip bones poking through. Her fur was matted, she was covered in her own mess and she smelt terrible. It was clear she had been living in her own filth.”
Deborah wrapped the dog in a towel and then rushed her to a vet for emergency treatment. She has since been back to visit. She added: “She’s still very thin, she’s getting lots of small meals to help build her up gradually. She gave me a little lick when she saw me, it broke my heart.
“I’m so thankful she survived being thrown out of that van,” she added. “Given the state she was in I don’t think she’d have survived much longer living in the conditions she was being kept.”
Vets found Freya was underweight, suffering from fleas and had a matted, dirty coat. They alerted the RSPCA.
Kirsten added: “We’re following up some lines of enquiry in the local area but I’m really keen to hear from any other witnesses who saw what happened or has any additional information about the vehicle, the people who were travelling in the truck, or Freya herself.
“Perhaps you recognise her, you have CCTV or dash-cam footage from the area, or you saw which direction the truck was heading in? I’d urge anyone with information to contact our inspector appeal line, in the strictest of confidence, on 0300 123 8018.”
Freya is not microchipped and has no identification tag.
