Adorable trio of puppies abandoned at North Anston animal sanctuary gates

Staff at Thornberry Animal Sanctuary were met by a sealed box with airholes at the gates and initially thought it was somebody leaving donations for the centre, until they noticed movement inside.

Ged Jenkins-Omar, Fundraising Managed said: “At first we thought it was a cat, but as we opened the box, we were met with three beautiful balls of white fluff.“The first thing we did was take them to our vet, who health checked them and assessed them. We are not 100 per cent certain but we think they are around seven to eight weeks old and we believe they are Maltese puppies.

"It seems unbelievable that someone would leave these three beautiful pups but that's the situation we found ourselves in. In the past you would maybe only expect cross breeds in animal rescue, but we are seeing more and more designer breeds and expensive dogs needing charities like ours."

Ged added: “We do not judge whoever left them or their circumstances, and they are always better to be with us rather than left at the side of the road. However, it does prove more challenging not understanding their background or their current health condition and it also makes us wonder where the mother is.”To help give the pups a better start in life or to make a donation visit www.thornberryanimalsanctuary.org/ or contact 01909 564399