A shocked passer-by discovered six puppies dumped in a field inside a sealed plastic container.

The dogs are now being nursed back to health - but a desperate appeal has now been launched to find their mum.

The puppies were discovered in the Knights Place field in Strood earlier this week.

An appeal was posted on the Medway Council stray dogs Facebook page which received almost 250 comments and reached almost 160,000 people.

A Medway Council spokesperson said: “These poor puppies were found in a terrible condition by a gentleman whose dog was very interested in a green box.

"All six puppies are suffering with severe skin conditions and are now at a rescue centre where they will receive the treatment they so desperately need.

“Due to the extremely high level of rehoming interest on our dedicated stray dogs Facebook page, we will be posting details of how they can be adopted as soon as they are back to full health.

“They are thought to be about eight to nine weeks old and have clearly been treated very badly. We hope they make a speedy recovery and go on to find loving forever homes.

“The success rate of reuniting owners with lost dogs, or finding new homes for strays, is high thanks to the hard work of our community wardens and the Medway Council Stray Dogs Facebook page."

Some of the puppies are now being cared for by A Dog's Tale rescue centre in Tunbridge Wells.

Nicola Kleanthous, who helps run the centre, is hoping she can find the puppies' mother, who she fears may be in a poor condition.

Writing on Facebook, she said: "It's great that the pups have been found by a genuine member of the public and are safe in rescue, but poor mum, if still alive, must be somewhere out there too.

"The so-called owners may have kept her, or she may be wandering too, but we would like to ask everyone to share this post and to look out for a bull breed that looks like she has recently had pups (hanging/large teets) and who will more than likely be in a worse state than these poor pups.

"If anyone knows/sees anything please please please contact us as we would love nothing more than to get mamma into rescue and safe too."

More information is available here.