A litter of pups were left to freeze after being abandoned in woods.
The French-bulldog and Shih tzu type dogs were discovered by a shocked passerby with their umbilical cords still attached just hours after birth.
They had survived against the odds after being cruelly dumped and left to freeze in the woodland where they were discovered.
The pups were taken to a nearby vets in Sheffield, south Yorkshire, where staff slowly warmed up their freezing bodies before they were taken into the care by the RSPCA.
As they were far too young to be away from their mum, they had to be hand-reared - and staff and volunteers were quick to help out by each fostering a pup.
Sara Jordan, RSPCA deputy chief inspector, has launched an investigation to find the person responsible for abandoning the puppies, before taking one male to hand-rear who she named Otter.
Her colleague Inspector Leanne Booth took in his brother Lenni, while other volunteers took in sisters Lily, Bea, and Clover.
Clover unfortunately died at just eight-days-old from suspected parvovirus. Lenni also contracted the same deadly disease but 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.
“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."
Just weeks before the pups were discovered in September, Sara had also hand-reared another puppy found dumped among a litter of 11 in woodland near Huddersfield, west Yorkshire
In this case, the finders also rushed them to a local vet who checked them over and estimated they were just a few hours old. Only the pup Sara helped survived.
In both cases the person responsible for abandoning the litters has not been traced.
This kind of abandonment is on the increase and the RSPCA has seen a shocking 25% rise in the number of abandonment incidents, with 13,159 recorded in the year to October 2022, up from 10,519 in the previous year.
The RSPCA believes the rising cost of living is causing more people to abandon or neglect their pets, and it fears the trend will worsen.
Rising bills and increasing costs mean it is becoming more expensive to look after an animals.
To help rescuers aid abandoned pets you can donate to the RSPCA's Winter Rescue campaign
