Rustington vet’s practice takes in abandoned hamster Frosty

Wendy Colliss, a practice nurse at Pet Doctors, in Woodlands Avenue, was shocked to see Frosty’s little nose poking out from beneath a towel and some hay in the bottom of a bucket left by the surgery’s door, when she arrived for work just before 8am on Monday (December 5).

“I thought someone might have left a hedgehog in the bucket, but then I saw this little nose. It was really, really cold this morning, so it’s amazing he survived,” said Wendy.

Practice vet David Hodges has adopted Frosty, who seems none the worse for his chilly experience, but the incident has angered staff at Pet Doctors.

Lisa Brockhurst, a veterinary nurse, said: “It looks like he was being kept in the bucket, rather than a cage, and the owner has just got fed up with him.

“There are better, more responsible ways of re-homing an animal than just abandoning them outside on a very cold night, when he could have frozen to death. There are charities which can help in situations like this.”