This CCTV footage of a dog being abandoned on the roadside at Christmas is hard to watch

A reminder of how much we need to cherish our animals.

Upsetting footage of a dog being abandoned on the roadside in the UK has emerged. The grim CCTV clip shows a man getting out of a car, taking a dog bed from the passenger side and leaving it across the road. He then leads the dog, a Staffordshire bull terrier out on to the road and lets him off the leash before running back to the car and driving off. The dog is clearly distressed, jumping at the car window and attempting to chase it as it speeds away. He was found by a passerby roughly an hour later and was brought to a local vet, who contacted the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). A microchip scan shows that the dog had two previous owners but neither of them are believed to have dumped him.

The RSPCA has launched an investigation after a man was captured on CCTV abandoning a dog from a car in Stoke-on-Trent.

For more news and video, head here: https://t.co/Gk97JUvZT5 pic.twitter.com/FK4DHQmyAq — Sky News (@SkyNews) December 24, 2018

Staff caring for him reckon he is about two years old and have nicknamed him Snoop. The footage was recorded in Stoke-on-Trent on Monday 17 December and is now part of a police investigation. "To see the poor dog in such obvious distress jumping up at the car as it drives away it just heartbreaking," RSPCA inspector Natalie Perehovsky told ITV. "I can’t understand how someone could do this. "I am very keen to hear from anyone who recognises the vehicle, the man or the dog. "He is a white Staffie with black marking, and is such a friendly, lovely boy. "He’s currently being cared for at a private boarding kennels where he will get all the care he needs whilst I investigate further."