If you wanted a hamster a charity shop is one of the last places you would go to.

But one such pet was dumped outside Seaside Charity in Herne Bay with a note attached to the cage that read simply: 'Please give this lots of love. Thank you.’

Shop owner Lisa Taplin said: “We’re a charity shop. We sell clothes, bric-a-brac, books, puzzles – not live hamsters.”

The RSPCA has reported a worrying rise in the number of abandoned animals as the recession bites.

Claire Butler, Canterbury district branch secretary, said: “There has been a great increase in pets being abandoned, and a great increase in people ringing up and asking how to rehome pets. But this is the first I have heard of a pet being left outside a charity shop.

“It is so cruel, so inconsiderate, so ignorant. In this weather, the hamster would not have survived the night.

“There are endless animal charities around and there are three vets in Herne Bay alone, all of which would have given advice on rehoming.”

The hamster was outside the shop for less than an hour before it was spotted and taken inside. She has been found a new home.