A dog left with a blade in his neck after being stabbed has been put down after becoming aggressive towards welfare staff.

Aslan was found bleeding heavily by a member of the public on Hay Drive in Edinburgh after a 26cm blade was found lodged inside him.

The Johnston Bull Terrier underwent surgery and was in a stable condition.

Scottish SPCA staff moved the dog to the animal rescue and rehoming centre in Cardonald where Aslan acted aggressively towards the workers when they tried to examine him.

He was then heavily sedated but grew increasingly out of control, threatening anyone who approached him, and was put down.

A Scottish SPCA spokeswoman said: "Aslan began to act aggressively towards members of our team and it became impossible for even our most experienced team members to interact with him.

"Aslan did not react well to any attempts to physically examine him and he had to be heavily sedated for this to take place.

"We continued to try to help Aslan as best we could and monitored his behaviour closely over the following days. Unfortunately, he grew increasingly out-of-control.

"It became clear that to ask anyone to interact with Aslan would be to ask someone to put their life at risk.

"To confine an animal to a kennel for the rest of its life, with little to no interaction with people, is no life at all. This would have been the future Aslan faced.

"It is with a heavy heart that, following consultation with very experienced members of our animal welfare team and our chief veterinary officer, we have had to take the difficult decision to end Aslan's struggle in life."

The spokeswoman added: "Although this is heartbreakingly sad, please do remember that Aslan is an exception to the norm.

"In the vast majority of cases we help animals rediscover their love, confidence and trust in people.

"In the instances when that is not possible, it never gets any easier to accept that euthanasia is the right and proper thing to do.

"Most importantly, this does not change the fact that we are still investigating what led to Aslan being stabbed in the first place.

"As is the nature of these things, we cannot offer much detail on an ongoing case.

"Rest assured that our attempts to establish what caused this tragic incident will continue and we will do everything in our power to bring those responsible to justice."