A litter of new born puppies who had been dumped and left to die in a woodland area were discovered with their umbilical cords still attached to them. They were thankfully rescued by a passer-by who spotted the five stranded pups and rushed them to a nearby vet where four of them survived, Wales Online reports.
The horrified onlooker stumbled upon the litter which was made up of French-bulldog and Shih tzu type dogs while walking through Beeley Woods, Sheffield, last autumn. The puppies who were only a few hours old were described as being in an 'extremely vulnerable' condition when they were warmed by veterinary staff in Sheffield before being taken into the care of the city's RSPCA.
The little pups were too young to be away from their mother so they were hand fed by staff and volunteers who fostered them. RSPCA deputy chief inspector Sara Jordan launched an investigation into finding the person behind the horrific crime and took in one male puppy to look after herself which she named Otter.
Her colleague Inspector Leanne Booth took in its brother Lenni, while other volunteers fostered sisters Lily, Bea, and Clover. Little Clover sadly passed away just eight days old from suspected parvovirus which is a contagious disease that spread to Lenni who fortunately survived.
Sara said: “It really was touch and go whether these pups would survive but the vet staff were amazing. There is always a big risk when hand-rearing puppies but without a mum we were left with no choice and their immune system was compromised without their mum’s antibodies from her milk."
The RSPCA believe that the cost of living crisis is causing more people to abandon or neglect their pets and they fear that the number of abused animals will only rise. Sara said: “Times are tough at the moment and we understand that many families are struggling to cope, particularly given the rising cost of living".
"We fear that we’ll see many more pets being relinquished to charities or abandoned because their owners simply don’t know where to turn. But abandoning tiny puppies like this is so irresponsible and cruel."
Only weeks after the pups were rescued in September, Sara had also hand-reared another puppy found dumped among a litter of 11 in a woodland area near Huddersfield. 10 out of 11 of the newborn litter sadly died after being examined by a vet with the pup Sara helped being the only one that survived.
In both cases the person responsible for abandoning the litters has not been traced. The RSCPA reveals it has seen a 25 per cent increase in the number of abandonment incidents with 13,519 of them recorded last year up until October 2022 which is 3,000 more cases than the previous year.
To help rescuers aid abandoned pets you can donate to the RSPCA's Winter Rescue campaign here.
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