A gang of thugs set fire to an 11-week-old Yorkshire Terrier before hurling the petrified pup from a moving car, animal welfare workers said today.

The Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) said the gang also urinated on the little dog during his ordeal in Ballymun, north Dublin.

The pup - called Shiofra – has to have his tail amputated because it was so badly mutilated in the attack yesterday evening.

Shocked local children who witnessed the incident contacted the DSPCA who have now taken the pup into care at its Rathfarnham shelter.

It was the second brutal animal attack in the same evening, coming just hours after a seven-week-old kitten was seen flung from a car on the Naas Road, in the south of the city.

The female tortoiseshell, named Momo, was shocked by the ordeal but otherwise uninjured.

Gillian Duffy, DSPCA ambulance driver, warned those who carry out such savage attacks could move on to even more heinous crimes.

“When I get a call like that my heart sinks,” she said.

“My first thought is to rescue the animal as quickly as possible, to try and alleviate any pain that it might be in.

“It is afterwards, when I have had time to consider the sick minds that could do such a thing to a defenceless animal, that I begin to get angry.

“We know that animal cruelty is a predictor crime, the people that could inflict this pain on a puppy will move on to more brutal crimes.

“Thank god for those children and their family for acting quickly and contacting the DSPCA. They have undoubtedly saved this puppy’s life.”

It is believed four people were involved in the attack on Shiofra at around 7pm.

Around three hours earlier Momo the kitten was flung from a car on the Naas Road but luckily escaped uninjured.

The incident was reported by a member of the public who was several cars behind.

Orla Aungier, DSPCA communications manager, said they were overrun with animals and urged people to consider adopting a pet.

There are 70 cats and kittens and 55 dogs, either abandoned, injured or left by their owners in the Rathfarnham shelter.

“Such acts of cruelty are sickening, how anyone can torture a defenceless animal is beyond me,” she said.