RPSCA launches internal review after deer shot dead in Bedworth

The RSPCA officer killed the injured deer with a stunning pistol

The RSPCA has launched an internal review after an officer was filmed shooting an injured deer dead and dumping it near a walkway.

The animal charity was called to a garden in Bedworth, Warwickshire, after the Muntjac deer was found with a leg injury by a resident.

Resident Lilly-Mae Finnerty said she was "horrified" to see the animal be euthanized.

The RSPCA said it was inappropriate to leave the adult deer's body in public.

Ms Finnerty, 28, called the animal charity to her aunt's house in Heath Road on Saturday after the deer was spotted in the garden.

• Latest news and updates from the West Midlands

But she was left distraught when she was told it would be euthanized by the RSPCA officer and filmed him shooting the deer.

The deer was left near a walkway in woodland at the end of the street

Ms Finnerty said the video had been viewed thousands of times, adding: "He went to his van and came back with a stunning pistol.

"He then shot [the deer] in the head and there was brain matter everywhere.

"It was horrendous and I only videoed it as we were so shocked by his attitude."

She claimed the inspector had left blood on the ground, and footage shows the deer's body left near a walkway in woodland at the end of the street.

Her father Spencer Finnerty said: "It was literally just dumped. It wasn't treated with any dignity.

"I'm absolutely disgusted with the RSPCA."

Spencer Finnerty and his wife Donna

The animal charity said the deer could not have been saved and officers were trained to put wild animals to sleep in an emergency, but assistant director for RSPCA Inspectorate Dermot Murphy said it should not have been left in a public place.

Mr Murphy said: "Looking at the video I imagine lots of dog-walkers go by there and we have procedures in place to make sure something like this does not happen, hence why I asked for it to be investigated and reviewed."