A national animal charity has offered a reward of up to £1,000 to help catch whoever hanged two dogs from a canal bridge.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has offered the money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who committed the crime at Ashby Canal, in Congerstone, on Thursday, December 29.

"The people responsible for this horrific act are cowards and must be caught before they strike again", said PETA spokeswoman Suzanne Barnard.

"We hope our reward will entice someone to pick up the phone to make the call which will crack this case. These people must be brought to justice as soon as possible."

The two young lurchers were left dangling over the bridge.

"We were alerted as soon as the news broke about this terrible crime," said Ms Barnard.

"It has shocked us so much that we met and decided it was a case where we would like to offer the money to try to bring the perpetrators to court."

She said the case had raised such concern at PETA not only because of the shocking nature of the crime but because of the recognised link between cruelty to animals and violence against humans.

"Violent child-killers Mary Bell, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables and serial murderers Ian Huntley, Fred West and Ian Brady all started on their violent paths by deliberately harming animals," said Ms Barnard.

Dr Brian Brown, principal lecturer in psychology at De Montfort University, in Leicester, told the Mercury earlier this week that statistics showed there was a link. The dogs were found by farmer Mavis Taylor, who reported her discovery to police.

Animal welfare charity the RSPCA has said that the dogs – a well-cared for male and female aged between 12 and 18 months – may have been alive when they were hanged.

Post mortem examination results were inconclusive.

RSPCA spokesperson Jude Clay welcomed the reward offer.

She said: "We are happy to hear about anything that might help us to get the information which might allow us to apprehend these people."

A Leicestershire police spokesperson said: "We too welcome anything which might get the right person to call in with the right information."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call PETA on 0207 357 9229 or the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.