A woman has been arrested after a dog that was drowning in a river – after being tied to a heavy rock – was dragged to safety by a member of the public.

A carrier bag containing the rock was tied to Bella the Belgian Shepherd’s lead when she was discovered, in a set-up described by police as “evil and nasty”.

A woman managed to rescue her after spotting her struggling in the River Trent in Farndon, Nottinghamshire, on Monday morning.

A 31-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty offences, Nottinghamshire Police said.

Officers, who took Bella to a local vet to be checked over, say she is “still quite poorly” but has been “showing some encouraging signs by eating, so hopefully she will be on the mend”.

They are appealing for witnesses and say Bella was registered in 2010.

The force is “working with the RSPCA” and “conducting microchip enquiries”.

“This was an evil and nasty thing to do to this poor dog and we are making every effort to find out who is responsible,” said PC Adam Pace.

“Whilst we have made an arrest we are still appealing for information about the circumstances of the incident, including how many people were involved.”

PC Pace added: “We are lucky that the kind member of the public found and rescued her.

“Her name was recorded in 2010 as Bella on her microchip but it is possible she may be known by another name if her owner has changed since then.”

Anyone with information should call 101, quoting incident number 103 of 6 January 2020

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