The RSPCA has slammed the “callous” person who dumped a starved dead dog yards from a primary school in Iwade.

The male tan and white Springer Spaniel, which was about five years old, was discovered wrapped in a blue rug which had been stuffed inside a plastic kennel.

A passing dog walker made the grim find after he noticed the animal cage tucked behind a pipe in School Lane.

It is unclear how long the body had been there, but it is thought it had died within a week before it was found on Friday, December 27.

RSPCA animal welfare officer Kelly Thatcher said: “It wasn’t much of a happy Christmas for this poor dog - who had clearly suffered leading up to his death. I was shocked at how thin he was - completely skin and bones.

“At first I had hoped he had died a natural death and then been dumped, but seeing how thin he was, and young, I doubt it.

“It was also such a callous way to dump the poor dog. Over the fence and lying among all manner of rubbish.”

The incident follows a similar report of a emaciated dead Border Collie which had been hidden in bushes in the area months previously.

Iwade parish councillor James Hunt said: “It’s shocking that this has happened in Iwade and it has been going on for a long time. There’s a big problem with dogs being dumped around country lanes in the area.

“It seems to be a route that goes through from Medway and they are quiet lanes - it’s an ideal place to dump these poor dogs.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the RSPCA on 0300 1238018.