A litter of new-born puppies with their umbilical cords still attached were dumped in woodland and left to die. However, a passer-by spotted the stranded pups and took them to a nearby vet, the swift action saving the lives of all but one of the five.
A horrified passer-by found the litter of French-bulldog and Shih tzu type dogs while walking through Beeley Woods, Sheffield, last autumn. The Express reports that after being slowly warmed by staff at the vets in Sheffield, the puppies, just a few hours old, were taken into the care of the city's RSPCA, with officials describing their condition as "extremely vulnerable".
Being too young to be away from their mother, the puppies were hand-reared by staff and volunteers who fostered them. RSPCA deputy chief inspector, Sara Jordan, who launched an investigation to find the person responsible for abandoning the puppies, took in one male to hand-rear, which she named Otter.
Her colleague Inspector Leanne Booth took in its brother Lenni, while other volunteers took on sisters Lily, Bea, and Clover. Sadly, Clover died aged just eight days old from suspected parvovirus, a contagious disease. Lenni also contracted the deadly virus 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."
The RSPCA believes the rising cost of living is causing more people to abandon or neglect their pets, and it fears that this trend will worsen.
“Times are tough at the moment and we understand that many families are struggling to cope, particularly given the rising cost of living," added Sara. "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 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. In this case, the finders also took them to a local vet who checked them over and estimated that 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.
The RSPCA says it has seen a 25 per cent 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. To help rescuers aid abandoned pets you can donate to the RSPCA's Winter Rescue campaign here.
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