Authorities in the United Kingdom are searching for a man who was caught on security camera footage abandoning a dog on the side of the road.
Video of the incident, which took place in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, was released by England and Wales-based animal advocacy group RSPCA. The incident took place on Dec. 17.
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It shows a man dropping the dog off on the side of the road, then running away into his car. The dog runs back to the owner trying to go inside the car, but the man drives away.
The dog chases the car, but the suspect doesn’t let him inside.
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Rachel Butler, the regional manager of the group, posted about the footage on Twitter on Monday, writing that the dog is now safe.
RSPCA Insp. Natalie Perehovsky added that the dog was found sitting in a bed that the owner left behind with him, by a passerby.
“I can’t understand how someone could do this,” Perehovsky said, according to HuffPost UK.
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She added that the dog is now with veterinary staff and has been nicknamed Snoop.
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The RSPCA noted that this is far from the only case of pet abandonment that the group receives around Christmastime. Last year, the group’s 24-hour hotline got more than 55,000 calls during the holiday.
According to the Independent, the RSPCA predicts 10,000 pets will be abandoned this winter.
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