A BABY hedgehog has been found dead with a kitchen knife thrust through its belly.

The sickening discovery was made by animal lover and well-known Bury dog trainer, Gordon Salmon, who described the attack as "vile".

Mr Salmon was out training a customer's dog in Stand Lane in Radcliffe a week last Monday when he came across the hoglet on a grass verge near to the road.

He said: "I thought it had been hit by a car but a knife with a four-inch blade was protruding from its stomach. The blade was buried up to its hilt.

"The poor thing had obviously curled up into a ball to protect itself from whoever found it but it was stabbed it with the knife.

"In 34 years working with and caring for animals I thought I had seen most examples of animal cruelty until I came across this baby hedgehog. The sick individual responsible for killing it, be it an adult or a child, is a vile excuse for a human being."