A "terrified" dog was thrown into a rescue centre's car park in what has been described as a "horrible ordeal".
Animal rescue centres across the UK are being "overwhelmed" with animals needing support on a daily basis. And Freshfields Animal Rescue is no different, with staff at the centre doing all they can to meet the unprecedented demand.
But with the centre "bursting", more animals are being neglected as households find themselves in financial hardship. Just this week, a Shih Tzu was "thrown over" into the rescue's car park and discovered by staff starting their morning shift.
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Taking to social media, the rescue centre said the "poor girl is absolutely terrified" and despite being microchipped, the dog had never been registered. Debbie Hughes said the scared dog would not let anyone near her, but kennel staff have worked hard to make "progress".
She told the ECHO: "We feel the results of the cost of living crisis every day, it's hard enough that we get anguished phone calls, but when people do this, it would have been a horrible ordeal for the dog, I can't imagine what she has been through. This is worst thing you can do, abandon an animal in incredibly distressing circumstances like this.
"This must have been a last resort but our advice to every single pet owner is to please talk to someone. Everyone is facing some heartbreaking decisions at the minute but please reach out for support.
"We are so aware of this, things have been getting worse since the beginning of the year, we used to see dogs abandoned on a weekly basis, but now we are seeing several on a daily basis. Please do not take this step.
"No one takes the decision lightly to give up an animal but we can signpost you to other services. This is just heartbreaking for everyone, even the staff. I can't imagine what that worker went through when they came in for their shift.
"We want to help them all but we are bursting, these are horrific times, I've never known anything like this and it's only going to get worse. But we'd like to thank our local community who are kind and dedicate and keep us going through incredibly difficult times. It's not all despair, please keep supporting us as every little helps."
Not much is known about the abandoned dog yet as she is still recovering from her ordeal. She has not got a name but appears to have no discernible health issues. For more information on her, or any of the dogs needing to be rehomed, staff are asking people to go online for an application form rather than phoning or email as lines are extremely busy.
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