A pet owner abandoned his sick dog in a field as it wailed in agony.

William Adams, 53, was called by a passer-by who found his phone number on a tag attached to the animal’s collar.

But when he arrived at the field where the dog, called Roger, was ‘in considerable distress’ and ‘constantly wailing’ Adams removed the tag and walked off.

Pub landlord Adams admitted two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to the collie-type dog by failing to seek a vet’s help, when he appeared before Tameside magistrates.

Prosecuting for the RSPCA, Mark Harper described how Roger ‘could quite easily have been mistaken for being dead’.

The charity seized the dog last July from a field in Ashton under Lyne after it was spotted by the passer-by.

Mr Harper said: “He saw a dog stumbling through the grass towards him. It was incapable of walking more than a few feet after which its back legs would give way causing it to collapse.

“He described the dog as appearing to be in considerable distress when it tried to stand up or walk and was constantly wailing, but not how a dog would normally cry. He was lame, underweight, had a severe infestation of maggots and bruising consistent with being dragged by its right hind leg.” The dog had health problems including spinal arthritis and an overgrown claw.

The man contacted Adams, who is the landlord of the Red House pub, Ashton, using the telephone number on the dog’s identity tag and waited until he arrived.

He said he was suspicious so watched from a distance and was ‘angry and sickened’ when he saw Adams remove the tag before walking away.

Mr Harper added: “The owner was seen to walk away in the direction of the Red House pub. He could see the dog was not walking with him due to the speed the man was walking and he was not carrying him either.”

The man called the RSPCA and a vet decided the dog should be put down because it was in such a bad condition.

Adams claimed the animal had been missing for the previous two weeks.

Magistrates, who described it as a ‘prolonged act of cruelty’, ordered reports and adjourned the case until March 10.