Five vulnerable puppies were left abandoned in the rain inside a plastic box huddled together against the cold.
The adorable cross-breed pups were incredibly lucky to have been found by a member of the public in South London on Sunday.
They were found shut inside a clear plastic box with red handles and a crack in the lid.
Three of the pups appeared to be around six weeks old, but the other two were so young their eyes weren’t even open yet, so are thought to be less than a week old.
RSPCA inspector Liz Wheeler, who was called by the person that found them, said: ‘The caller wasn’t sure whether the pups had been abandoned overnight or early in the morning, but the lid was swimming in a puddle of water so the puppies had been left outside for some time during the rain.
‘Thankfully the puppies were okay huddled together on a brown towel in the box but they were clearly very vulnerable. Leaving them like this is incredibly irresponsible.
‘We’d like to say a big thank you to the woman who found the puppies for acting so quickly to get them to safety – and even bought some puppy milk for them.’
New stats released by the charity show the number of animals being abandoned has risen by a worrying 17% from 2020 to 2021.
There was already a further increase of 24% in the first part of 2022.
Liz said: ‘Times are tough right now, and we fear that these puppies have been abandoned because their owners simply couldn’t face the costs of responsibly raising them.
‘Our new Animal Kindness Index found 19% of owners are worried about feeding their pets.
‘While we understand that many people are struggling right now we would plead with pet owners never ever to abandon their animals; especially such vulnerable animals like these puppies.’
‘If anyone has any information about where these puppies have come from or saw anything suspicious in the Buckfast Road area of Morden on Saturday night or Sunday morning please call our appeal line on 0300 123 8018.
‘We’re concerned that there could be more puppies and bitches who may be in need of veterinary attention, and we’d like to check that they’re okay.’
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