AN ANIMAL lover was left feeling outraged after she saw two hamsters living inside a doll's house advertised on Facebook.

Jo Goodyear knew she had to rescue the pair of Syrian hamsters after seeing they were "living like discarded toys" at a home in the city. 

Their owner posted pictures of the hamster's living conditions online offering them to a new owner in return for payment.

The pictures upset the retail assistant, who is also from Worcester, so Miss Goodyear bought the house and rescued the two animals inside. 

Worcester News: RESCUE: hamsters rescued from dolls houseRESCUE: hamsters rescued from dolls house (Image: NQ)

She said: "I broke my rules and I paid to get them, there was no way on this planet they were going to stay there a minute longer, cast out and living like discarded toys.

"The sight of the Syrian's little face at the window of his dark, enrichment void prison will stay with me forever."

She said: "Animals are not toys, they are not disposable.

"Days like today break my heart and sometimes I doubt if I can carry on being exposed to so much indifference and cruelty but they also give us rescue folk the inner strength to say we can't change their pasts, but can we change their futures?"

Miss Goodyear devotes a lot of her spare time to voluntary rescue work and has handed the hamsters over to Greatfield Small Animal Rescue which is based in Kidderminster but also covers Worcester, Malvern and the West Midlands.

The previous owner had sectioned the floors off in the doll's house to stop the hamsters from fighting with each other. 

Worcester News: The doll's house was sectioned into two parts The doll's house was sectioned into two parts (Image: NQ)

But they were also living outside which meant they were constantly 'terrorised' by a cat. 

The minimum recommended hamster home should be 100cm by 50 cm, as most of them would run up to 9km a night in the wild.

Mrs Goodyear added: "Sadly, most pet shop cages fall below this size.

"Similarly, most pet shop wheels are too small too and prolonged use of an inadequately sized wheel can cause damage to their spines."

"Hamsters are complex creatures, who require a large, fully enriched environment to live in.

"They would naturally burrow in their wild habitat, so it's important for them to have a deep substrate to fulfil this."