Two puppies discovered on train inside bag

TWO one-week-old puppies were rescued by cleaners after they were left for dead in a bag of fishing gear on a train, an animal welfare charity said yesterday.

The employees spotted the bag moving when they boarded the Glasgow to Ayr train to clean it on its arrival at the seaside town at around 11pm on Friday.

When they unzipped the dark green bag they found two tiny German shepherd-rottweiler cross pups inside.

They were taken to the Scottish SPCA Dunbartonshire and West of Scotland Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre, where they are now being bottle-fed around the clock.

Scottish SPCA Inspector Kerry Kirkpatrick said: "It's one of the strangest abandonments we've investigated.

"These pups are extremely lucky to be alive as they wouldn't have survived much longer without their mother's milk.

"While they are far too young to be away from their mother, we're doing all we can to help them survive."

The male and female puppies were zipped up in a dark green Prologic bag, which also included fishing reel and hooks.

Puppies normally have to stay with their mother for a minimum of six weeks before they can live independently.

The Scottish SPCA said that abandoning an animal is an offence and appealed for information about the incident.

Inspector Kirkpatrick said: "The contents of the bag make this case even stranger.

"Perhaps whoever abandoned the pups has an interest in fishing and maybe this will somehow help us track down the person responsible, depending on the information we receive.

"Very often animals are abandoned by their owners. However, we always keep an open mind, and given the circumstances in this case it may be that these pups were stolen or somehow ended up away from their mother, who may be distraught having been separated from her young."