In South Yorkshire, the latest figures show the number of abandonment reports to the RSPCA for 2023 was 727, up from 615 in 2021 when the cost of living crisis began - an 18% increase.
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00:00They'd been left to rot. They were on a dirty, filthy mattress. There was no food,
00:06there was no water. It broke my heart really. It was one of the saddest sights
00:09I've seen in 15 years. Poppy was in a more serious state than Jack, but that
00:17doesn't take away from the situation that Jack was in. Absolutely awful. But
00:20Poppy, she was weak. She could hardly open her eyes. I was concerned that they
00:25might not even make it. Although they were suffering horrendously, they wanted
00:29to be next to each other. I remember taking a picture for case purposes and
00:32they leaned into each other and they were clearly supporting each other
00:35through, you know, the worst moments in their life. I was sort of stroking them
00:39throughout the process of being examined and you could just
00:42notice that they started to separate off from each other's support a little bit
00:46and they just slowly started to gently wag their tails. And people ask me
00:49all the time, do you think they know that they're being rescued? And I think
00:53that was the moment for me that they knew that they were with people that
00:57were going to care for them and love them and that they were going to be okay.
01:02Within minutes of them seeing each other, they were off playing typical
01:06bull breed, rough and tumble. Poppy's owner said that, you know, sometimes you
01:09can be a little bit anxious, but it was clear they recognised each other. It's
01:12literally made my year seeing that today. I deal with the real hard hitting
01:17beginning of these cases, but to be able to come and see them today with their
01:21new owners and how they've managed to restart their lives and how happy they
01:27they are, it's just a career highlight. But you know, it's such a massive team
01:32effort that's been required to get to this point. An RSPCA officer goes and
01:37rescues them. They then get transported as an emergency to see lots of different
01:43veterinary staff, then there's animal centres staff. None of that is possible
01:47without the fantastic support that we get from members of the public who are
01:52allowing us to go out and do this work every day. Thank you, because I've done
01:56this job for 15 years and, you know, rescued hundreds of animals from
02:00horrendous cruelty and neglect, and none of it would be possible without the
02:04support of members of the public. No animals should be left to suffer this
02:09Christmas. Donate today.