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A six-year-old autistic girl who doesn't understand death keeps asking her parents when her 'best friend' rabbit will come back - after depraved yobs crushed its head with a brick.

Matthew Shelby, 28, and his wife Louise, 28, made the sickening discovery of bunny Rosie's flattened body lying next to her hutch at their home in Barry, south Wales, on Thursday.

The couple claim the pet had become a form of 'therapy' for little Shayla and saw the rabbit as a calming influence for her.

However Shayla's autism means she has very limited vocabulary and struggled to grasp the finality of what had happened to her beloved pal - instead insisting that Rosie would 'come back to see drawings that she had done of her'.

(Image: Mercury Press and Media Ltd)

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Matthew, a caretaker from Barry, south Wales, said: "When I picked up the body, I didn't see a single bite mark, I checked every inch of her body, and didn't find anything that would be found after a fox attack.

"The only blood was coming from her ears, and eyes, and it was at this point I notice her head was almost completely flat, and her skull felt like it was in pieces.

"Also her body felt a lot flatter than what it should of been.

"It was then I noticed just by where she was laying a brick covered in her fur.

"A brick I knew for certain I moved towards the bottom of the garden a few days before, I knew straight away somebody had come in to the garden and used a brick to smash her head with a brick, and then possibly stomped on her.

"The locks on the hutches are very tight, and even my wife cannot get them open so it would had to of been a person that opened Rosie's hutch, a fox would not have been able to do that.

"Me and my wife were in total shock that another human being could just walk in to another person's garden and ruthlessly kill a pet animal.

"They must have seen the trampoline, and the kid's toys, so they knew a child was living here.

"It's just so brutal, graphic, and no remorse was shown to the animal, and even us, as they left the brick there on display, without any regards to the impact it would have.

"Even a few days after it's still difficult to fathom the sort of deprived mind it would take to do something like that, knowing the animal belonged to a family with a child, knowing that the family and child would wake up and have to discover their pet was dead."

(Image: Mercury Press and Media Ltd)

As her parents feared, Shayla struggled to process what had happened to her pet.

Matthew said: "We sat her down and told her Rosie had passed away, but having autism her vocabulary is very limited and black and white, so she didn't understand.

"I had to use the term 'died'.

"She didn't cry, or show any sign of upset initially, she got straight up, went and drew her a picture and told us 'It's okay, Rosie will like my picture, and she will come back, she won't be dead, it's okay'.

"She knew something was wrong, but me and Louise could see she was having a difficult time expressing it, and even showing it to us, so she relied on something she could understand, and that was drawing pictures, as that makes us happy when she draws them for us.

"To us as parents to see this reaction was horrific, as we knew she couldn't grasp the concept of death, and thought a simple gesture like this would be enough to reverse what she had learned.

"Shayla would often call Rosie her best friend and loved having her around.

"She would enjoy having Rosie on a pillow with her watching TV, or showing Rosie her toys, Rosie was always welcoming to the attention as Shayla was very gentle with her, and had a lot of time for her.

"Rosie became almost like a therapy to Shayla, my daughter has a difficult time concentrating, keeping still for short periods of time, and even understanding various things, so you could really see the affect Rosie had on her.

"Shayla would instantly become calm when she could concentrate on Rosie, and would often talk in expressive ways about Rosie.

"As a child with autism, Shayla has a difficult time picking up on social cues, and making friends, as she can be very forward with her words and actions.

"Although she means no harm by them, often other children can find it difficult to take her all in.

"We would use Rosie as an example of how she should be considerate of others, and be able to recognise when somebody was happy or sad.

"Initially due to her autism, she didn't react in the way you would expect someone to react, but the last two days she has told us she misses Rosie, and has asked if we can bring her back."

Since posting an appeal for information on Facebook the family have been overwhelmed with the support they have received from all over the world as the post was shared and commented on more than 1,000 times.

Some well-wishers have even offered to buy Shayla a new rabbit, however as she struggles with change she doesn't want a new rabbit unless it is Rosie.

Matthew contacted the police shortly after discovering Rosie's body and has praised the way they have handled a case that would usually be classed as non-urgent.

A spokesperson for South Wales Police said: "We can confirm we have received a report of a rabbit killed by a brick.

"This happened sometime between 19 July at 8pm and 20 July 12 noon in Barry."