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A deformed puppy left freezing to death in a graveyard is the latest addition to the home of a woman who has taken in FIVE horrifically mistreated pets.

RSPCA worker Kay Hawthorn enjoys her job so much she has adopted the poor pooches while working to help other unwanted pets on a daily basis.

Her latest arrival to the family was a bulldog cross puppy discovered in a shocking state, cold and starving in a Liverpool graveyard.

The poor pup which Kay has since named Frankie was terrified and unable to move due to having two badly deformed front legs.

This kind of abandonment is on the increase and the RSPCA has seen a shocking 25 per cent rise in the number of abandonment incidents, with 13,159 recorded in the year to October 2022, up from 10,519 in the previous year.

The RSPCA believes the rising cost of living is causing more people to abandon or neglect their pets, and it fears that this trend will worsen.

It is appealing to people who are in the position to donate to help with its Christmas Rescue campaign.

In Frankie’s case, he was rescued by the RSPCA and placed in the care of Kay, the charity’s Wirral and Chester branch manager.

The 53-year-old mum-of-three instantly fell in love and deciding that, as he would need more operations, she would adopt him.

The puppy, whose original owners are yet to be identified, is one of five RSPCA rescue dogs Kay now has at home – each with a similar sad background.

Just like the others, Frankie – after an operation to correct one front leg – underwent an amazing transformation.

Thanks to a good diet, his other leg healed itself and now he loves to run around with his new family, Maisie, a West Highland White cross, aged 12, Eva, a German Shepherd aged 12, Bertie, a Shih Tzu aged 18, and Toots, another Shih Tzu aged 4.

Kay said: “There is no doubt if Frankie had not been spotted when he was, he would have suffered a lingering death from starvation or hypothermia.

“He was terrified, and as he was unable to move from the secluded spot where he was left.

“He was so nervous in our care – he was curled up in a ball and was reluctant to move, which we often find with dogs who have been dumped because clearly they are just so frightened.

“Within two weeks he almost doubled his weight to 8.2 kilos and his skin condition has been treated.

“I took him home to help him settle away from a kennel environment, intending to foster him until a home could be found, but he just really bonded with me, and who could resist those lovely eyes.”

The first dog to move in with Kay was Toots, an eight-week-old puppy who, in her short life, had three broken ribs on one side, three fractured ribs on the other, and a fractured jaw in two places caused by her owner.

She was rescued as part of an investigation into her owner in 2018, who later appeared in court.

Toots was too young to be away from her mum and had to be syringe-fed puppy milk through the night at Kay’s home.

Kay’s husband, Ian, 56, also played a large part in her rehabilitation, often carrying her around inside his jacket.

Next came neglected Eva, who was found living in squalor with urine stains across her coat from laying down in her own filth and a skin condition that meant half her body was bald.

She was taken to Kay, who helped to regularly bathe Eva to combat her skin issues, and after a few days of rehabilitation, the pair had become inseparable.

Maisie was also found dumped in a graveyard and had such awful matted fur that vets were unable to establish what breed of dog she was until they shaved it all from her body.

Her eye was so infected it was popping out of her head, and she had to have an operation to remove it. Bertie was rescued in a similar matted state to Maise.

As well as the dogs, Kay has also taken six elderly cats into the clan over the years, who would have struggled to find homes otherwise.

Kay added: “I did begin to foster all the dogs with a view to getting them used to how to live in a home environment so they would be adopted easier.

“In each case I offer them homely comforts to help them recuperate from various ordeals and then I end up falling in love and they end up staying.”

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