Winter welfare crisis fears in Nottinghamshire as rising animal abandonment causes concern for RSPCA

The animal welfare charity released new stats that show abandonments have been spiraling amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.

in Nottinghamshire the charity is on course to receive 379 reports of animal abandonment this year - marking an 8.7 per cent rise on the number of reports received in the local community in 2020.

Dermot Murphy, who heads the RSPCA frontline rescue teams, said: “The combined effects of the pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis has created a perfect storm - and means we expect more animals than ever will need our help this year."Abandonment calls to our emergency line are now at a three-year high, as we respond to an increasing number of animals being given up and dumped.“Behind these shocking statistics are thousands of vulnerable animals. Each one is a valuable life in urgent need of our help.

“We’re desperately concerned about the coming winter months in Nottinghamshire. Abandonments have soared and many rescue centres are full to bursting, so we are facing an unprecedented winter crisis.“Our rescue teams are set to be busier than ever this Christmas - so we need animal lovers to join the Christmas rescue and donate to help us be there for animals in desperate need as neglect and abandonment soars.”

In July, near Worksop, a female cat and her four newborn kittens were found abandoned in a crisp packet box under a tree. They were found dumped in a Skips crisp box wrapped in gaffer tape.

The family of cats were found by a concerned member of the public in Wigthorpe, who kept them safe until the RSPCA was able to rescue them and take them to a nearby vet for treatment.

The kittens were thought to be just over a week old, and sadly one was so poorly that vets decided the kindest thing was to put them to sleep to prevent them suffering further.

However, the other cats went to be looked after by an RSPCA foster carer.