A BASINGSTOKE woman has been left traumatised after she opened a parcel delivered to her home containing a dead puppy wrapped up in pink tissue paper.

The woman, who does not want to be identified, received the disturbing parcel in the post on July 13 and said the puppy was wrapped in kitchen roll and put inside a plastic freezer bag which was neatly wrapped in pink tissue paper inside a box wrapped in protective bubble packaging.

However, when she took the dead puppy to Basingstoke police station, in Viables, she said officers refused to investigate.

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Upon opening the package, she said: “It wasn’t clear what it was. My head and eyes were still in work mode. I thought it was hair extensions (that I didn’t order) at first. I went to check the parcel address and saw it was my address but it wasn’t my name.

“On closer inspection, I realised I was holding a dead puppy inside a bag. A dead puppy, wrapped carefully in pink tissue, like some sick, twisted gift or message to someone.”

The woman went to her neighbours to ask if anyone of the name on the parcel lived nearby.

After spending 40 minutes on hold to the police, she decided to drive to the police investigation station in Jay’s Close, where she was told the incident would be logged, but not investigated.

She pointed out that the parcel had a return address, however, was advised by staff that the police would still not be able to investigate because there was no evidence that the return address was where the parcel had come from.

Instead, she was advised to report the matter to the RSPCA.

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She said: “I explained to the police staff that someone had wrapped up a dead puppy in pink tissue paper, ensured it is not damaged in transit, chosen a specific delivery date and paid nearly £5 to track it, to ensure they can monitor and confirm its arrival. And we have a return address. The response was that it was very weird.

“It is way more than weird. Weird is an understatement, an ignorant one. That they will log it but it can’t be logged as malicious communication because it isn’t addressed to me. It can’t be logged as a suspicious package because we know what it is. So it was logged as animal cruelty. The takeaway – if your concern doesn’t fit a box to tick, don’t bother. They won’t know what to do.”

She added: “After all this, not once did the police staff ask if I was okay, if I felt threatened, if I felt anyone had any reason to do this. Nothing. No welfare whatsoever. Not once did police staff look at the postal label information or inside the box.”

Feeling shaken, the woman who describes herself as an ‘animal lover’, was then asked by police to take the dead puppy away with her and dispose of it.

“I was not walking out of there with that box,” she said, adding: “Whilst in my head I was wondering if I should take responsibility for the little body and do something kinder with it.”

She said the dead animal was not looked at or examined, adding: “It could’ve been filled with drugs or explosives for all we know. I received a dead puppy in the post, taken it to the police station and now I’m asked to take it back and dispose of evidence.”

The woman said she has been left feeling “shocked and disturbed” by the incident, and unable to sleep reflecting on what happened.

A Hampshire police spokesperson said: "On Wednesday 12 July, a woman made a report at the front counter of the Police Investigation Centre in Jays Close to say that she had received a parcel in the post with a dead animal inside.

"The package had the woman’s address on it, but there was different name to that of the woman’s on the package.

"The incident was recorded and officers are now investigating the circumstances of this incident to see if any offences can be identified."