Horrified pet owners react with shock to picture of 'friendly' dog forced to wear homemade DUCT TAPE muzzle
- The shocking picture was taken outside a supermarket in Brighton
- Horrified Lesley Wickenden confronted the owner, who claimed he had been advised to use duct tape by the police
- Dog lovers reacted with fury, branding the homemade muzzle 'barbaric'
- The RSPCA was called, and the owner was given a new muzzle for the dog
This shocking picture of a dog being muzzled with duct tape and rope has sparked outrage among pet owners.
It was taken outside a supermarket - where the owner claimed to have been advised to tie the dog up in this way by the police.
Horrified Lesley Wickenden spotted the animal outside a Lidl store in Brighton and called the RSPCA.
Officers from the animal charity have since visited the owner - but the pet has not been taken away from him.
'Barbaric': Dog lovers reacted with fury to the image, which was posted on Facebook
Ms Wickenden, 44, who posted the picture to Facebook, confronted the owner, and was told the dog's usual muzzle was broken, and that the man had been told to use duct tape and rope by the police.
The owner claimed the dog had nearly bitten him.
She wrote on Facebook: 'The dog was very friendly and on a greenish lead.
'I told him if the dog was kept on the lead there was no place for the tape..'
She added: 'The animal has feelings and it was wrong if I just drove past.'
Dog-lovers reacted with fury to the image.
Sue Sunley described it as 'barbaric'.
Asher Naylor wrote: 'This makes me angry. I have the same dog. This needs to be sorted!'
Nicola Tulloch said that it was a 'disgusting way to treat a dog' while Bev Bassett added: 'Common sense tells you this is not the right thing to do.'
A spokesman for the RSPCA said officers had received a number of calls from people who had seen the post, and that the dog's owner was spoken to.
He said: 'We received a number of calls from people last Friday (Sep 30), after they had seen the images of the dog online.
'We shared the public's concerns and an RSPCA inspector visited the man on Saturday morning (Oct 1), and they assured our officer that it had only been a temporary measure after his dog's original muzzle broke while he had been out visiting his mother.
'The RSPCA provided the man with a new muzzle for his dog and advised him to purchase a new one so that it can be properly fitted.
'We are satisfied that this will not be repeated.'
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