'Please look after my hamster, I can't afford her anymore': Is abandoned Snowball the saddest victim of the recession?

By Daily Mail Reporter


For Snowball, it was so nearly the moment she went to the great hamster cage in the sky.

The tiny pet had been abandoned on the freezing streets of London, along with a note from her owner saying: ‘I cannot afford to look after her any more.’

And there the one-year-old albino hamster might have met her end had it not been for a friendly passing commuter.

'Please take care of my friendly hamster': Snowball pictured with the note her former owner left when abandoning her

He spotted her huddled inside her cage, which had been left in a bag next to rubbish bins in St George’s Square, Pimlico, on Tuesday morning.

The note left with her said: ‘Please take care of my friendly hamster. I cannot afford to look after her any more. Thank you.’

The commuter took the freezing hamster to the Blue Cross animal hospital in nearby Victoria.

There, vets checked her over and gave her her wintry name. The charity is now looking to re-home her.

Defenceless: The Blue Cross are now looking for a new home for Snowball, who would have died had she not been spotted by a passing commuter

Blue Cross receptionist Amanda Marrington said: ‘We couldn’t believe it when the man walked in with a dumped hamster.

‘We are more used to seeing abandoned dogs or cats but it is heartbreaking that someone felt so desperate that they left poor Snowball out in the cold with a note asking for help.

'It is lucky Snowball was found when she was. She’s so tiny that she would not have survived long in plunging temperatures.’

The charity said there had been a 28 per cent rise in animals being dumped or abandoned last year – evidence, it says, of owners finding it hard to support a pet in the current economic climate.

Miss Marrington said: ‘It is never the answer to dump a helpless animal to fend for itself.

'We would always urge people to contact a rescue centre for help if they find they can no longer look after their pets.’


source:dailymail