At least 43 dogs are confirmed to have died in a fire at Manchester Dogs Home.

A boy, aged 15, has been arrested on suspicion of arson and is being held in police custody after the fire in Harpurhey.

More than 20 firefighters battled the flames which engulfed the building on Mossbrook Road.

Police were called to the scene around 7.10pm.

A GMP spokesman said: “At the moment it is confirmed that 43 dogs are dead and it is unknown how many are injured.”

We've started a JustGiving page to raise funds for the dogs' home. Go here to donate, or text MDOG57 followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070

He added that the force had been inundated with calls from devastated animal-lovers offering homes to any surviving dogs.

“We are having lots of offers of help from the public, which is really nice,” he said.

“At the moment we don’t know what help will be needed but it is great that so many people are coming forward.”

Pictures of the blaze were posted on social media by concerned people living near to the long-established dogs home, which has capacity to care for 400 dogs.

Residents said they could hear ‘dogs yelping’.

Twitter user @Hoyles10 said: “Big fire at Manchester Dogs Home, apparently the building has collapsed, too late for the animals by all accounts.... Heartbreaking.”

And fellow user @MostonRedDevil wrote: “Manchester dogs home is on fire with all the dogs yelping.”

The home was established in 1893 and has provided shelter for over 1m dogs.

Resident John Heslop said: “The fire is more or less out now. They got some of the dogs out and chained up outside but I’m told some of them died.

“There were about six fire engines at the scene. There are no houses on the road itself. People had come out of their houses from the nearby estate and are standing at the grass on the back watching what was going on.”

Superintendent Marcus Noden of Greater Manchester Police said: “We are working closely with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service to establish how this tragedy has occurred. We are in the very early stages of the investigation and have a young boy in custody, however we would ask if anyone was in the area and remembers seeing anything suspicious around the dogs' home that they call police and tell us what they know.



“As a dog owner myself I understand that many people will feel angry and upset about what has happened, but I would ask that they let the police carry out their investigations and not take matters into their own hands.



“We have received an overwhelming response from the public and would ask if anyone wants to help they can make donations of food or bedding to North Manchester divisional headquarters on Northampton Road in Newton Heath.”



Anyone with information should call police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

More than a century of caring for animals

Manchester and Cheshire Dogs’ Home holds a special place in the hearts of animal lovers around UK.

The site in Harpurhey has re-homed more than one million dogs since it first opened in 1893.

The home take in and care for over 7,000 dogs every year, often having more than 250 dogs at any one time waiting for adoption across their two sites.

But often many dogs are never reclaimed by their owners and require a great degree of emotional and physical support during their time at one of the two homes.

Operating for more than 100 years the city of Manchester has developed around the site of Manchester Dogs Home which is how it became a city rescue centre.

In reaction to this the centre bought a disused site in Cheshire, and opened up Cheshire Dogs Home and they operate as one charity.

The charity also has a specialist care centre for dogs who cannot cope in Manchester Dogs Home which they bought in 1999.

The two homes are also the largest organisation caring for stray dogs outside of London.

On average they accept over 20 dogs per day between the two Homes and will accept any from within a 50 mile radius of Manchester.

But many are never claimed.

They also offer services to other Manchester dog owners including micro chipping and neutering.