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A deer has been found with gruesome injuries after being attacked by dogs close to Paisley houses.

The carcass was discovered by a dog walker near Candren Road.

Residents living nearby heard screaming and barking as the animal was killed by dogs amid claims of antisocial behaviour and animal cruelty in the area.

One concerned resident – who found the dead deer – has claimed groups of men regularly use the waste ground to hunt deer and foxes with their dogs.

She said: “It’s really horrific and upsetting to see this so close to houses.

“I actually spoke to the people in the houses who said they heard screaming and barking.

“They said they were too scared to go outside.

“It’s awful. The deer was lying there for quite sometime before it was removed.

“ Children and people using the area would have seen it.

“It is actually the second one I’ve found in the area in the last month or so.

“I’m still upset thinking about it. I was really shaken up by it. Just seeing it there. I love animals, so to see that is really grim.

“I was with my friend when we found it and she is the same. She was quite upset.”

The latest carcass was found on Saturday morning.

A woman who spotted it said the issue of antisocial behaviour in the area has been ongoing for several years, with people on quad bikes regularly racing around the fields with dogs .

She said: “It’s been going on for a good few years.

“You can see them at night with their torches and hear the dogs barking.

“They seem to be going after the deer and the foxes.

“In the summer I was out walking my dog when I came across guys in a four-by-four and they had two rifles on the bonnet.

“It’s quite frightening, especially when you are out walking in the area.

“Their dogs are really aggressive so you don’t know what they could do to my own dog.”

(Image: Paisley Daily Express)

Inspector Tracy Harkins, from Paisley’s community policing team, added: “Under the circumstances, it’s difficult to establish exactly what happened to the deer.

“I would urge anyone with any information in relation to the dead animal or any behaviour of concern in the area to get in touch with community officers on 101.”