Butterscotch, the four-year-old lop-eared rabbit, was found by its teenage owner with its head missing.

Police say they believe an intruder got into the back garden of a home in Exeter Street, Kettering, on Monday evening and carried out the brutal attack.

The teenager's mother, who did not want to be named, said: "It is just sadistic and unnecessary. It is brutal – who would do something like that to a family pet?

"I can't believe there is someone out there who has done this.

"I would warn anyone with any pets to make sure their garden is secure."

Police have discounted the possibility that the rabbit was attacked by another animal.

The mother said: "It wasn't until my daughter went out in the garden that she found the rabbit."

Anyone with any information can call police on 08453 700700.

The incident comes in the same week that a pair of kittens, one of them so young it has not yet weaned, were found dumped by the side of a road.

The kittens, about five-weeks-old, were found on the road between Caldecott and Rockingham by a passing motorist on Sunday night.

They were handed over to Northamptonshire Animals Needing Nurturing and Adoption (Nanna) in Irthlingborough.

The charity has named them Calde and Rocky and is trying to find them a new home.

Charity trustee Petrina Alderman said: "The woman who rescued them said she's sure they would have been run over if she had left them because they were playing by the side of the road and when she stopped her car eight more vehicles went past.

"We are convinced they must have been abandoned because they were in the middle of nowhere. Their condition was pretty good but Calde had not even been weaned yet so she was really hungry when she came to us."

Anyone who wants to offer a loving home to Calde and Rocky should call Nanna on 01933 650372.