Bruce the dog, who was found in Carlisle with holes in his head, having been beaten and set on fire, is on the road to recovery after surgery and is enjoying life according to vets.

The four-year-old brown male bull lurcher, a cross between a sighthound and a bull breed often used for illegal hunting - was found wandering around Little Orton, on the outskirts of Carlisle on Thursday 30 August.

The RSPCA believe he'd either been beaten with a screwdriver or a piece of wood with a nail hammered into it, giving him the severe puncture wounds and nasty eye injury which had then become infected and had to be removed.

The fur and skin around his rear end and tail were burned as if someone had tried to set him on fire.

Bruce recovering after surgery. Credit: RSPCA