FIVE guinea pigs – including a week-old baby – have been found dumped in a layby.

A member of the public came across the vulnerable animals in Flaxby, near Knaresborough, on Monday, January 29.

It is thought they were abandoned the night before in two cardboard boxes that got wet in the rain, allowing them to escape.

RSPCA animal collection officer Alan Farr said: “Temperatures dropped to zero not long after we got them tucked up, which would have been disastrous for them, if they hadn’t been run over or eaten first. They were lucky.”

Anyone with any information should call the RSPCA appeal line on 0300 123 8018.

Three of the guinea pigs have been adopted, with the two males up for rehoming from RSPCA Great Ayton Animal Centre next week.