AN ABANDONED gerbil was found shivering on a Bewsey doorstep by a shocked animal lover.

Paula Brady, of Plumtree Avenue, couldn't believe it when she opened her front door and saw the animal, which had been dumped in its cage with no food or water.

The 28-year-old says that she is shocked at the behaviour of whoever left the animal outside in the freezing weather conditions on Wednesday night.

She said: "It was trembling with fright and it was so cold outside I had to bring it in.

"It is disgusting that someone could do this. To me, it is mental cruelty."

=Paula took the gerbil to be checked over by animal welfare experts before giving it an early Christmas present - a permanent home with her fiance's sister ,Joanne Unsworth.

Christine Walkden, manager at the RSCPA centre in Slutchers Lane, said: "Obviously people shouldn't leave animals outside like this and it was lucky in this case that somebody found the gerbil.

"A couple of weeks ago two cats were dumped outside here late at night and it was cold then too.

"It seems that when people want to get rid of an animal they do it without a second thought."