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Abandoned 'festive pets' reaches six-year high

RSPCA Peanut is in a kennels and is wearing a pink jumper and looking directly into the camera. She has large brown eyes and long ears hanging down the side of her head. She has light brown and white fur, which is very thin - like her body. RSPCA
Peanut was found alone down a country lane off Dunton Road, Biggleswade on January 1

The RSPCA has been caring for its "thinnest dog" as it dealt with a record number of abandoned animals over the festive period.

On New Year's Day, 43 abandonment incidents came into the charity across the country, including three-year-old Peanut who was found near Dunton Lane in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

Poorly peanut, a lurcher, had pressure sores on her legs from laying on hard surfaces and had been visibly starved before she was rescued by a Cambridgeshire branch of the RSPCA.

The charity said it feared more cases like Peanut as financial hardships increased.

Warning: This story contains images which may be upsetting

RSPCA Peanut looks slightly healthier but is still very thin. Her bones cannot be seen as she is wearing a pink jumper over the middle of her body. She has a purple wrap around her back leg and is curled up inside a metal crate. She is laying on pillows and a fluffy blanket which has red, blue, yellow, pink, purple and green circle spots on it. RSPCA
On New Year's Day, 43 abandonment incidents came into the RSPCA across England and Wales

The charity said a total of 84 pets were left at its centres across the country on 27 December - the most abandonment incidents logged in a day.

Kennel supervisor at Block Fen Animal Centre, Tiffany Saunders, said Peanut had been "lifeless" but there were signs of improvement each day.

"She's certainly feeling much better though and it is really lovely to see her tail wag," Ms Saunders said.

"Her weight gain is understandably a bit of a slow process as she was incredibly emaciated, so we are needing to introduce her food in small regular meals.

"She is under the care of a vet and the plan is to continue to build her weight back up. She has a great appetite so we are fairly confident at this stage that she has just been starved and that illness isn't the cause of her current emaciated state."

RSPCA Peanut is in a kennels and stood up. All the bones in her ribs, back and legs can be seen through her fur - which is a light brown and white shade but is only thin. She has a camo style wrapping on her back two legs and looks frightened. RSPCA
Although her prognosis remains guarded, she is showing small positive signs of improvement, say kennel supervisors

'How could anyone allow this to happen?'

David Allen, an RSPCA animal rescue officer, said Peanut's condition was "appalling and quite shocking".

He wanted to speak to anyone with information regarding the dog's owner or who may have seen someone acting suspiciously in the area.

"She's the thinnest dog I have ever seen and I cannot understand how anyone could allow this to happen," Mr Allen said.

"She was microchipped, and the person who was registered on the chip had sold her on when she was just six months old."

The RSPCA said overall it had 22,503 incidents in 2024.

It feared a surge in spontaneous pet ownership during Covid-19 and financial hardships would carry the increasing number of abandonments into 2025.

Between 18 December and 31 December 2024 it reported 846 incidents.

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