TAKING care of a pet requires a lot of love and devotion but can also be quite hard work.

Dozens of animals are often left without a home, or worse, abandoned every year when families find the task is too great to contend with.

Fortunately, for rodents in south Essex, help is at hand since the Essex Guinea Pig, Rat and Rabbit Sanctuary opened its doors to the lost, forgotten or unwanted pets in the county.

The dedicated band of volunteers, who all have full-time jobs, give up their time, money and even their homes to care for the animals in the hope of finding them new owners.

Rodentologist Lesley Morgan, who helped found the organisation, said: “There are lots of different reasons why animals come here. Maybe a family is moving to a new home and cannot take them with them, or, which is often the case, the novelty of a new pet has worn off and they do not want them anymore which is a shame.

“Sometimes animals are incorrectly sexed, and we take them in and end out with lots of unexpected arrivals which can be difficult but we never can turn them away.”

Catering to around 50 guinea pigs and rats at their sanctuary in Church Road Hadleigh, and up to 60 rabbits at their centre in Nore Road, Eastwood, they spend thousands of hours each year to keeping each individual animal happy, clean and fed.

Mrs Morgan added: “When it’s freezing cold, and its dark outside or it’s raining it is a bit miserable but you just get on and do it because we love it.

“The problem is when you get elderly ones or animals that have injuries because you find yourself holding on to them because they cannot be re-homed.”

The animals are housed in purpose-built enclosures, at the back of the properties, which were hand-built by Lesley’s husband Stuart Morgan when the organisation was set up in 1993.

Since then it has gone from strength to strength, gaining charitable status in 2001.

Now, volunteers are on a mission to raise £4,000 to build entirely new enclosures with dedicated areas for each species.

The rescue centre does not charge for adoption, but the team does ask for donations to keep the charity going.

For more information visit www.egprr.org.uk or contact Lesley on 01702 551164.