A man has been found guilty of tying up a dog and dumping it into the Forth and Clyde canal.

Daniel McPhillips, 26, was given £20 by a woman to take her seven-year-old King Charles Spaniel Alfie to his local vet and say that he'd found him as a stray.

Tammy Burgoyne, 43, who told Falkirk Sheriff Court her benefits had been cut and could no longer afford to keep her dog, did so knowing the practice's policy was to pass on strays to a shelter, where Alfie would find a new home.

A month later Alfie's body was fished out of the waterway at Underwood Lock, near Allandale in Stirlingshire, by a lock-keeper.

He posted about the incident on social media and the pictures were seen by Ms Burgoyne, who contacted the Scottish SPCA.

The court heard an inspector from the charity rang McPhillips, of Denny, Falkirk, to question him - and he hung up.

McPhillips was arrested after he was confronted by someone in a chemist.

An individual told the court he said to McPhillips: "I think you killed Tammy's dog". McPhillips responded: "What else was I supposed to do with it?"

In a conversation overheard by the pharmacist, who also gave evidence, he added: "Aye, I did it."

The court heard when Alfie was found he still had Tammy's retractable dog lead attached - it had been wrapped round his head, neck, throat and legs.

"It is necessary for you to be remanded in custody because a custodial sentence, while not inevitable, is perhaps likely because of the grave nature of this offence."

Sheriff Christopher Shead

A post-mortem revealed that some of the injuries caused by the lead were as a result of Alfie struggling under the water.

Injuries to his neck were "consistent with strangulation" and there was evidence that he had been tied to something in the canal.

A pathologist said the dog may have drowned as well as been strangled.

Prosecutor Susan Campbell said: "Alfie met his unsavoury demise having endured a great deal of suffering."

After summary trial, McPhillips was found guilty of causing Alfie unnecessary suffering. He had denied the charge, and told his lawyer that Alfie had slipped his lead as he walked him along the canalside to the vet and he never saw him again.

Finding him guilty, Sheriff Christopher Shead deferred sentence until December 18 for background reports.

He said on Wednesday: "The Crown case is that he dumped the dog into the canal, whether dead or then alive.

"I am bound to say that I am not prepared to accept what he says as exculpatory."

The sheriff said he had "no reason to doubt" the evidence that McPhillips had admitted his guilt in the pharmacy.

Refusing bail while reports are prepared, he told McPhillips: "It is necessary for you to be remanded in custody because a custodial sentence, while not inevitable, is perhaps likely because of the grave nature of this offence."

Afterwards, a Scottish SPCA undercover officer described Alfie's death as "a truly shocking case of animal cruelty".