These horrific pictures reveal the appalling scenes that confronted RSPCA Inspector Anthony Pulfer when the squalid vehicle was opened by police.

One image shows the tragic tan-coloured lurcher’s leg and tail poking out of the bottom of the white van’s door.

Once the van was opened, the body of the female dog was found stretched out across the floor of the squalid vehicle alongside old tools and fetid water.

Animal cruelty investigators cannot be certain whether the dog was already dead when it was left trapped in the vehicle or whether she suffered in agony as her life ebbed away.

The RSPCA was tipped off when a passerby spotted the abandoned van in Chapel Lane, Uxbridge, around 1pm on New Year’s Eve.

Inspector Pulfer described the scenes when police opened the van.

He said: “It was incredibly distressing to see such an upsetting sight with the poor dog’s foot and tail trapped in the door.

“I’m very concerned about the circumstances surrounding her death. She was emaciated and I suspect she suffered before dying.

“We cannot be sure whether she was still alive when she was abandoned in the van, or if someone dumped her body in there after she died.”

The RSPCA has been told two men left the van on Christmas Eve, a week before the animal charity was alerted and vehicle was opened by police officers.

Inspector Pulfer said: “There are reports that a dog had been heard barking in the vehicle but we do not know if it was the same dog.

“It’s almost too horrific to imagine that someone could have slammed her leg and tail in the door while she was still alive and just left her to die.

“The van was filthy inside with just a saw and grass-cutter inside the vehicle alongside her body.

“Unfortunately, she did not have a microchip and attempts to trace the owner of the van by police have proved unsuccessful so we are desperate to hear from anyone with any information which could prove useful to our investigation.”

Anyone with information should call the RSPCA’s confidential appeal line on 0300 123 8018.