Dumped in a bucket days before Christmas… But look at these puppies now

Prepare to be totally heartbroken, then feel eternally grateful, when you hear about the plight of these puppies.

It was just days before Christmas – and so freezing cold – when the litter of lurchers were dumped on a cottage doorstep in Surrey in a bucket.

Luckily, the homeowner discovered them before it was too late.

Things have turned around for the little pups. They were named after some of Santa’s reindeers – Cupid, Dasher, Blitzen, Rudolf, Prancer and Dancer.

And while one pup – Dasher – sadly died of a virus a few days after being found, the rest of the litter are said to have come along in “leaps and bounds” at RSPCA Millbrook.