Please give us a home. We'd be furry grateful

Believed to have been bred as Christmas presents, these dogs were instead taken to the Dogs Trust. The 12-week-old crossbreeds are ready to go to the right home. Salisbury: 01980 629 634


More than three decades since the Dogs Trust's famous slogan 'A dog is for life, not just for Christmas', still thousands of puppies, kittens and even hamsters are given as gifts each year. The result - as these heartbreaking pictures show - is hundreds of innocent animals abandoned once Christmas is over. With vulnerable pets arriving every day at centres across Britain, all are in need of love and care. 'This is one of the busiest starts to a new year we've had,' says Jackie Williams of the RSPCA Block Fen Animal Centre in Cambridgeshire. Here are just a few of the many adorable rescued animals desperate for a loving home



Left: This puppy patterdale was found alone on the streets just after Christmas. Merseyside: 01514 800 660 Right: Those sad eyes didn't save lurcher Little Santa from being abandoned. Harefield: 0845 076 3674


These four-month-old kittens were found in a plastic carrier in Outwell in Norfolk. They each have black or tabby coats and are waiting for new homes - and names. Block Fen Animal Centre: 0300 123 0726


The fiendly, soft brown and white hamster was found in her cage at the side of a road in Walthamstow, London, on Sunday. There was no note - just a bag of sawdust by her cage. Southridge Animal Centre: 0300 123 0704


Left: Small surprise that six-month-old Chantemelle looks needy after being dumped by the bins of a local pub. Blue Cross Support Centre: 0207 932 4067 Right: Left in a cardboard box, this two-month-old kitten was found shivering on a housing estate. Blue Cross: 0207 932 4067


Left: These seven-week-old lurcher terrier cross pups were found only last weekend when wimpers were heard coming from a laundry basket. Block Fen Animal Centre: 0300 123 0726 Right: Ten-week-old puppy Pebbles was found on Sunday, distressed on a beach in Swansea. Dogs Trust Bridgend: 01656 725 219



Sadly, the New Year brought Floyd's owner a change of circumstances at their home, so she could no longer keep the one-year-old Scottie cross German Shepherd. Dogs Trust Harefield: 0845 076 3647


source: dailymail