Sheila Stewart, of Capricorn Animal Rescue says the centre has been inundated with mistreated pets and animals and has described their owners 'unthinking, uncaring cowards'.

At 2pm on Friday August 15, a worker from a skip hire company brought five 12-day-old kittens into the centre, after they had been found in a squashed box in a skip he was unloading.

The man, who works for Flintshire waste management and recycling services, said that the kittens were the second 'dumped' litter the company has seen in the last couple of weeks.

Sheila said: "This is so cruel, the kittens could have been crushed to death, starved to death or died of thirst, all of which are slow lingering deaths. And what of the mother cat? She will be so distressed finding her kittens taken from her.

"The people who dump animals like this are cowards, unthinking, uncaring cowards."

Capricorn is now overflowing with abandoned animals, after what Sheila described as the 'busiest for a while'.

"Seven young rats (approximately seven weeks old) were left outside the sanctuary last week, in the pouring rain," she said.

"When we found them the next morning, the rats were soaking wet and clinging to the sides of their cage as the bottom of their cage had filled up with two inches of water.

"We spent the morning drying and cleaning these babies; they had been well handled, so presumably have been someone's pets.

"One was quite poorly with a chill but is well on the way to recovery now."

Eleven rabbits also came into the centre in need of medical treatment last week, after they were left malnourished, with one suffering from an infection on his ear after it had been ripped off by a family dog.

"The rabbits were in an extremely poor state and one poor little rabbit's ear had been left untreated after the attack and so had a very bad infection in the wounds in his ears.

"There were babies, only half the size they should have been for their age, all had been kept in one hutch, and the adult female rabbit gave birth again two days after coming in to us.

"The owners did not even know they were being neglectful and cruel. It never occurred to them that the rabbits were suffering."

Another little black rabbit and a beautiful little white cat were taken into the vets over the weekend at midnight after both being hit by a cars and were handed in to Capricorn's care after being examined and treated by the Grange veterinary hospital.

"They are both recovering well, nothing is broken but they are both still a bit grazed and battered," said Sheila.

Sheila says she is 'disgusted' by the ill-treatment of all the animals that come into the centre and is now urging local people to become more responsible when it comes to their pets.

"When things get tight or hard people seem to forget that their animals need consideration.

"If people are facing either financial or home trouble, I would encourage people to plan ahead and either find a new home for their pets at a sanctuary or a rescue centre.

"Here at Capricorn we need to pace ourselves as we or our foster families don't always have space. As much as we try to help it isn't always possible."

If you think that you are a suitable candidate to become a Capricorn foster carer for animals at the centre, to typically take care of a litter of cats for up to seven weeks, please contact Sheila at the Capricorn animal rescue centre on 01244 547 938, for more information.