Burglars who broke into an animal charity rescue centre removed five guinea pigs and later dumped them in a play area with their fur ripped off and strewn across the ground.
CCTV footage captured the thieves running from the outdoor barns of the centre in a Kent village carrying the animals in a crate just after 10pm on Tuesday. At 4pm the next day a woman walking in a children's park with her youngsters stumbled across four of the creatures huddled together, two miles from where they were taken. The crate was found dumped further away.
A passer-by phoned Lisa Inns, who looks after them, to let her know where they were, but one of the guinea pigs remains missing. Lisa, a volunteer for the charity Anim-Mates, who cares for the animals, said she feared the animal, named Buttercup, could be dead because the fur scattered on the floor "was mainly hers".
