The dog was tied up and burned on a bonfire

The incident happened in the Glebe area near Sion Mills on Sunday night.

In another Halloween incident, a nine-year-old boy has had a finger partially amputated after he injured his left hand in a fireworks accident in County Armagh.

Residents in Glebe tried to rescue the dog, a Labrador-Collie cross breed, but were beaten back by flames.

The dog's owner, Mary Wilson, said she was devastated.

Ms Wilson, who lives alone, said the dog was always at her heel.

"It was terrible, I couldn't believe that anybody could do that to an animal," she said.

The dog was yelping and crying - it could actually make you feel sick Jacqueline Elliot Local resident Animal cruelty 'must be tackled'

Jacqueline Elliot was passing the bonfire with her two children when she heard people shouting that there was a dog being burned.

She said: "When we got closer we could hear the yelps, but there was nothing that we could do.

"The dog was yelping and crying. It could actually make you feel sick."

Ruby McConnell, a local community worker, said attempts were made to help the dog.

She said: "A lot of people tried to save the dog but the flames were too high and people could not get near because the heat was too much."

'Mindless cruelty'

USPCA Director Stephen Philpott, who condemned the incident, said that such attacks are not isolated.

He said: "In the course of our work we come across some pretty blatant and mindless acts of cruelty against animals.

"Unfortunately at times like Halloween, when some sort of social responsibility gets diminished right across the board, people carry out these acts and think they are funny."

Firework attacks were also reported on cats and swans

He said that firework attacks on swans and cats had also been reported.

"In one incident a pigeon loft was burned to the ground, 82 pigeons burnt to death in Beragh outside Omagh," Mr Philpott said.

Meanwhile, a County Antrim solicitor is offering a reward for information about those responsible for killing the dog.

Jim McFarland from Lisburn said he would give �1,000 to anyone who can help the police find those behind the brutal incident.

"I think that members of the public who were present at that bonfire have a very good idea of who carried out this atrocity," he said.

"There will be many people there who already feel bad about it and it is their duty to go to the police and to inform the police who did it - it's just plumbing new depths I think in animal cruelty," he said.

Meanwhile, a boy has been transferred to the Ulster Hospital in Belfast after suffering a firework injury to his left thumb and index finger.

The boy, from Meigh in south Armagh, was admitted to Daisy Hill hospital in Newry on Monday morning.

Part of his index finger was amputated.

Sinn Fein councillor Packie McDonald said he spoke to the boy's older sister, who told him it happened when a group of children found part of a rocket.

"Whether he or somebody else put a fuse in, it was lit in his hand and exploded," he added.