'She's a lovely little dog - not a breeding machine'

The RSPCA has warned the public about unscrupulous dog breeders after a dachshund was found stumbling down the middle of a busy road.

The charity believes Delilah was a "breeding machine" that had been dumped near Main Road, Cotgrave, in Nottinghamshire, because she could no longer have puppies.

She was taken to the nearby RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Centre where vets determined Delilah had not been hit by a car but instead was presenting signs of intervertebral disc disease.

The price of puppies has more than doubled during the pandemic, with the average cost of dogs soaring to almost £1,900.

"She [Delilah] is a lovely little dog and she has been treated like this and just simply discarded like rubbish," Ella Carpenter, animal centre manager at RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Centre, said.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, external, on Twitter, external, or on Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk, external.