Four men have been arrested after a hedgehog was painted in the colours of Leeds United. West Yorkshire Police's Wildlife and Rural Crime team said they arrested four males aged 44, 21, 17 and 15.

They were detained on suspicion of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal contrary to Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. News of the arrests came after a woman found an adult female hedgehog at her home in Yeadon, Leeds, West Yorkshire, on July 13. It appeared to have been daubed in Leeds United's yellow and blue or as Sonic the Hedgehog.

The paint meant the prickly mammal was unable to "curl up" into a ball and was left with "breathing problems" due to fumes from the paint.

Staff at Prickly Pigs Hedgehog Rescue in Otley took in the animal, scrubbing the oil-based paint from each individual spine and administering pain relief.

Diane Cook, 51, who owns the rescue shelter, said whether it is football-related or not, the actions were "absolutely appalling".

She said because the creature had restricted movement, it had no way of defending itself from predators and could have easily been "killed" or slowly starved to death.

Diane, who runs the shelter from her converted garage, said the paint was so "thick and tough it had ‘glued’ her spines together".

The animal lover also said the paint was similar to emulsion used for decorating or even one used for road marking road surfaces.

Hedgehogs are in decline in Britain and are now listed as "vulnerable" on Britain's red list of mammals. According to the latest State of Britain's hedgehogs report, numbers of hedgehogs have fallen by up to 30% in urban areas and 50% in rural areas since the turn of the century.

West Yorkshire Police said all four males were bailed as further enquiries take place.

A spokesperson for the force said: "Four arrests have been made after a hedgehog was sprayed blue in the Yeadon area, Leeds.

"Over the weekend four men aged, 44, 21, 17 and 15 were arrested on suspicion of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal contrary to Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. All four have been bailed for further enquires to take place."

Anyone with information should call 101 or use the Live Chat option on the force's website quoting reference 13260401913.

Information can also be given anonymously to the independent Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.