ONLY one puppy was found alive after a litter of six was dumped in a brook at a nature reserve.

The brindle-and-white Staff-ordshire bull terrier pup was found abandoned in Bicester in a bag left in ankle deep water.

Five other puppies, aged between eight and 10 weeks, were already dead and RSPCA officers believe they had drowned.

They were discovered in a black holdall by a dog walker in the nature park between Lawrence Way and Wear Road, near Shakespeare Drive, at 7.15pm on Monday.

The women who found the bag took the puppy home to warm it up and make sure it was safe and then went back to the park to get the others.

But by the time she got back to the spot the bag had disappeared.

An off-duty police officer who was in the park 20 minutes before said the bag had not been there then.

Police and RSPCA officers searched the area, but no trace of the bag or puppies was found.

Inspector Will Rippon, who collected the female puppy, said: “This was a very strange incident.

“The surviving puppy is healthy and friendly and is not even underweight, so she has obviously been cared for.

“But to dump her and the other dogs in this way was completely thoughtless and cruel.

“Searches of the park have failed to recover the bodies of the other puppies or the holdall so we have no idea how they died.”

The puppy was given a check up by a vet and is being cared for temporarily by the RSPCA in Aylesbury.

After 21 days, if no-one comes forward to claim the dog, she will be rehomed.

Pedigree Staffordshire bull terrier puppies can change hands for several hundred pounds.

An RSPCA spokesman said Staffordshire bull terriers had a bad name because they were used by some owners as fighting dogs.

She said: “Quite a lot of undesirable people tend to get them and we tend to see these ones abandoned and poorly treated.

“We are seeing more people get them as status symbols.”

She said the dogs were used in spontaneous dog fights in areas such as parks.

The spokesman added: “They are lovely dogs but the sort of people that get them don’t tend to treat them very well.”

People found guilty of failing to meet the needs of their animals could face a maximum six-month prison sentence and, potentially, a fine of up to £20,000.

Anyone with any information about the incident should call the RSPCA in confidence on 0300 1234999.

bicester@oxfordmail.co.uk