Three guinea pigs dumped in lane beside The John Francis Basset Wetherspoons pub in Camborne, Cornwall sometime on Friday evening are being cared for by the RSPCA.

The freezing trio were found by a member of the public, who took them to the all night homeless support centre in Camborne, who then contacted the RSPCA.

All three of the Guinea pigs are ginger and white females. They were found inside a box along with some food and water.

"Although the person who dumped these poor Guinea Pigs may have felt that they would be OK having been left in a busy place and with some food and water in the box, they may have caused suffering to them,” said RSPCA inspector Lewis Taylor.

“Guinea pigs are extremely susceptible to the cold and on this night they were freezing, they had knocked over the water and were wet through - the poor animals were obviously very frightened, “People have a duty of care to their animals and we are increasingly seeing, and especially at this time if year, animals being treated like disposable commodities which is unacceptable."

Although they are generally healthy, two of the guineas have overgrown claws and at least one is likely to be pregnant.

Anyone with information about how the guinea pigs came to be dumped is asked to contact the RSPCA, in confidence, on 0300 123 8018.

To help the RSPCA rescue more animals like this, please text RESCUE to 70800, to give £3.