Becknutt
Well-Known Member
It's a dog's life when you're a rabbit left on a bus
By Kate Mason
UNWANTED pets have traditionally been abandoned along with the festive wrapping paper.
But with Christmas still days away the area's biggest animal charity is already struggling to cope with scores of abandoned pets.
Among the discarded animal now being looked after at the RSPCA's Bawtry centre are a rabbit left on a bus and two cats found in a cardboard box at the side of a main road.
The giant rabbit was found last Saturday on a bus by a conductor who contacted the RSPCA to say someone had left it. It is now waiting to be re-homed.
The kittens were brought into the Bawtry centre by a woman who witnessed the cardboard box, with the kittens inside, being thrown from a van while driving along a busy stretch of Bawtry Road.
She had to swerve to avoid it and after inspecting the box and realising something was moving inside she took it into the RSPCA centre, where they discovered the two frightened kittens.
Alison Pring, animal care manager at Bawtry, said: "The lady was clearly shaken up, she didn't know what was in the box when she brought them in, she didn't dare look as she wasn't sure if they were alive or dead."
Alison added: "It's really hitting us hard already, we are tearing our hair out at the minute, we've got animals everywhere. It's just as bad in the run up to Christmas as it is after but I wouldn't advise anybody to give a pet as a gift at Christmas as a lot of the time they are unwanted."
Mark Evans, RSPCA chief veterinary adviser, explained that several reasons are thought to be behind the appearance of so many unwanted pets in the winter.
He said: "It could be that people don't want to take their dog out for walks in the dark, or they don't want their cat with tummy trouble bothering them when the in-laws come round for Christmas.
"The rise in numbers over the summer also suggests that perhaps some people try to re-home th
eir animals before they go on holiday.
"Whatever the reason, it's very sad. A pet is a responsibility for its entire life and if people aren't able to take on that responsibility, we'd rather they didn't take on the pet in the first place."
The charity's animal centre managers do not think that animals abandoned in January are necessarily unwanted Christmas presents.
They believe that it takes a while longer for the novelty to wear off, with March being the time when most appear at centres.
If anyone wishes to adopt either the rabbit or the kittens, or other animals at the centre, or would like to volunteer to work at the centre, candidates must be 18 or over, contact (01302) 719790.
The centre is also in need of blankets for the animals and anyone wishing to donate bedding should send it to Animal Centre, Great North Road, Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN10 6DE.
