Mum horrified after 'suspicious' find on sand dunes

A horrified mum found six dead puppies dumped near Crosby beach.

Sharon McLusky, 52, from Crosby, had been walking along the popular sand dunes at Crosby beach with her two daughters, both in their thirties, last month when they found a dead puppy dumped on the grass. They were then horrified to return last week (Thur) to discover five more had been ditched in the same spot.

The 52-year-old, who is a receptionist at Parker & Crowther Vets, in Formby, told the ECHO how the puppies looked like had been dug out of a shallow grave. She fears how they could have ended up there in the first place.

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On April 16, Sharon says she was walking along the sand dunes with her two daughters when one of her daughters spotted what they thought was a dead rat. But what they found was much more harrowing.

Sharon told the ECHO: "I took a closer look and it wasn't a rat it was a puppy, there was just one. It didn't appear that it had been harmed, other than the fact it had no skin on its head. I work in a vets at Parker & Crowther and one of the nurses said it could have been the birds that took the skin.

"Fast forward two weeks, we were at the beach last Thursday [May 2] - I was with my daughter and her dog - the dog was sniffing about and she said mum there is another puppy. We lost our dog on Sunday so I wasn't in the right head space.

"We went over and had a closer look and found three more dead puppies. We went over to them and found more. In total we found six puppies in that spot."

Sharon says the five puppies she discovered with her daughters on Thursday appeared as thought they had been dug out of a shallow grave in the grassland next to the beach. She said: "The five that we found on Thursday were in a really really shallow grave that looked like it had been dug up. It could have been foxes that had dug them out the grave. I couldn't leave them so I picked them up and took them to work."

Sharon says it is unclear how the dogs have died or ended up dumped near the beach, but worries for the welfare of other animals. She added: "I said to my daughter if it was a disease that they have contracted then it wouldn't have wiped them all out in the same day. It could be poison on the dog walk which is worrying.

"The puppies weren't newborn either. They were four or five weeks old, they were starting to get teeth and their eyes were open as well, so they can't have died at birth. I do not know what has happened."

The harrowing discovery has left Sharon and her daughters upset. She said: "It was really upsetting, I work in a vets so you do get used to it but both my daughters were really upset, and that is something you don't want to see. You don't want to see any dead wildlife but especially not puppies.

"It was pretty nasty and upsetting. Are people not walking past them [the puppies]? There is a lot of families and people who walk along there [the dunes] with their kids and that would have been pretty traumatising for them to see."

She added: "The girls and vets [Parker & Crowther Vets] have been amazing with the help that they have given."

A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: "The RSPCA is investigating this and we share concerns that this is suspicious.

"We would appeal to anyone who may have any information regarding this incident or may know how the puppies came to be at this location - anyone who has any information is urged to call the RSPCA inspector appeal line on 0300 123 8018 quoting incident 01259774

"We are grateful for this being reported to us and it must have been very upsetting for the person who found the bodies."

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