The Dalmatian also had its back legs tied

The animal, which was in a bag filled with breeze blocks, was pulled from the River Braid in Ballymena on Wednesday night.

It also had its back legs tied with cables. Dog Warden Nigel Devine described it as an act of calculated cruelty.

"That dog was not taken in a car - that dog was walked there," he said.

"The people who did it went specifically with the stuff to do that to the dog - this dog thought it was out for a walk.

"If they owned the dog and they didn't want the dog anymore - all they had to do was phone up and say that they had an unwanted dog.