OFFERS are pouring in to re-home a dog left to die in a recycling skip.

People touched by the sad plight of spaniel number 1392 - affectionately named Skip by Echo readers - have contacted the dog warden service in droves.

Stunned waste workers found him locked inside a waste paper bin at Portland Recycling Centre.

Weymouth and Portland dog warden Rod Wild said since his ordeal Skip has been treated by vets who kept him in a clinic overnight for observation.

He has also been shampooed and brushed.

Skip is now in kennels at West Hatch RSPCA Centre in Taunton, Somerset, while a joint police and RSPCA investigation is underway which could lead to the prosecution of his owner.

Mr Wild thanked everyone who had offered their help and said: "We have had an enormous response from people saying they could give him a home.

"The co-operation has been absolutely wonderful by people wanting to take him on and by the police.

"He has drunk an enormous quantity and eaten lots.

"He is getting ongoing treatment for his skin condition and a mite infection in his ears.

"It developed because he had not been well kept."

Mr Wild says Skip's owner has been identified and the RSPCA and police have been gathering information and statements about the incident.

They are awaiting results of forensic tests taken at the recycling centre and these will be sent to RSPCA headquarters together with the case notes.

The owner is from the Weymouth and Portland area.

One of those moved by Skip's sad tale was Leslie Hackshaw, of Derby Street, Weymouth.

She said: "I was in tears reading about what happened to him. It is awful and I am so angry at whoever did this. I would be willing to give him a home."

Mr Wild said he has passed on offers to rehouse Skip to the RSPCA.

The RSPCA can be contacted on 08705 555 999.