A DUMPED lurcher, left to die in a bin liner, was forced to eat another dog to stay alive.

The two-year-old survived only on rainwater and the flesh of the other animal, believed to have been already dead when it was dumped with her.

Gravesend vets who battled to save Belle said her condition was one of the worst they had ever seen.

She still bears horrific scars from her ordeal:

• Both her front legs have been broken and she now stands with splayed feet. Her joints are swollen from months of beatings

• She has to be fed every two hours as her digestive system does not work properly

• She has huge scars along her spine where she has been repeatedly beaten.

But despite her ordeal Belle is now settled in a new home and, according to her new owners, seems to be getting over the trauma.

The Gravesend owner, who does not wish to be named, is furious. She said: "Hanging is not good enough for the people who did this to Belle."

The dog was rescued by a Dartford dog warden on December 18 after he got a tip-off from a lorry driver who saw her on waste ground near the Littlebrook Power Station. She was taken to the Shrubbery Veterinary Centre in Perry Street, Gravesend, with the expectation she would be put down.

Bob Davidson is one of the senior vets who treated her. He said: "In all the years I have been working as a vet, this has got to be the worst case I have ever seen."