AN emaciated lurcher thought to be from the Welsh border area was found dumped in a hedge on Christmas day - and rescued by another dog.

Shocking pictures show seven-year-old Rosie's ribs protruding through her skin and her body covered in puncture wounds.

The RSPCA say she had been “left to die” in a hedgerow on Spen Common Lane near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, before she was found at 7.30am on Christmas morning.

A dogwalker’s pet pooch sniffed her out and started barking for help.

A passerby carried the starving animal back to her home nearby and called the RSPCA who sent her to an emergency vet.

Rosie was covered in a purple antibiotic spray which had been used to try and treat numerous puncture wounds on her body.

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She was put on a drip and has been receiving round-the-clock veterinary care ever since at a 24-hour animal hospital.

Despite her appalling condition, she is making encouraging progress but an infection in her hind leg might mean she has the limb amputated.

The RSPCA, which is funding the cost of Rosie’s care, is appealing for anyone who recognises her or saw what happened to get in touch.

RSPCA officer James Dack said: “Rosie was extremely fortunate to be discovered as it was a quiet country lane and there were very few people around.

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"She had a number of sporadic wounds all over her body and an infection in one of her hind legs which thankfully seems to be responding to treatment.

“We’re not sure how long she’d been lying there - possibly overnight - but I think she may have succumbed to her injuries and the cold had she not been found.

“She had clearly been dumped and left to die.

“There had been an attempt to treat her wounds with an antiseptic spray, but whoever callously abandoned her has probably thought, ‘she’s injured, she’s on her way out, I’ll just leave her’.

“It was a shocking incident to have to deal with on Christmas Day but it’s why we are out there 365 days a year and it was a pleasure to be able to help Rosie.

“We’d like to extend our thanks and gratitude to the kind member of the public who stopped to help - without her I think we could have been looking at a different outcome - and to the wonderful veterinary team who have been caring for her since.”

Rosie was microchipped to an address in Nottinghamshire but the details out of date and she had been sold to someone in the ‘Wales/Shropshire’ area four years ago.

Anyone with information about her is urged to contact the RSPCA’s appeals line, in confidence, on 0300 123 8018.

The incident comes at a time when cases of abandoned animals have soared to a three-year high.

Already this year the RSPCA has received 19,457 incidents, with 1,619 reported last month alone.