THIS Morecambe animal lover reckons he was sold a pup when he accepted a rabbit from the RSPCA.

Severely disabled Peter Callaghan, 68, of Shakespeare Road is on income support but has already had to pay £135 in vet bills for an eye infection the rabbit, called Major, already had.

And yesterday Mr Callaghan's vet told him he may well have to pay out yet more.

Mr Callaghan explained: "They said it was minor infection and gave me some drops. I thought 'all right' but now it's just costing me a fortune.

"I've rung and rung the RSPCA but I've never managed to get hold of anybody to talk about bills. I did have another rabbit called Hoppy but he also had fairly serious problems and eventually Animal Care agreed to take him from me for a more suitable owner. I still wanted to look after a rabbit. I've loved animals all my life and have always had them around and it's good company for me.

"I told the RSPCA about my disability and financial situation before they gave me Major. I applied the drops they gave but it turned out Major needed much more attention."

Mr Callaghan has serious problems with his arteries which mean his blood doesn't circulate properly so he has limited movement and is housebound.

North Lancs RSPCA recently severely cut back on helping out with vets' fees for people on income support because of a lack of funds.

A spokesman for the RSPCA commented: "Mr Callaghan has never actually complained to us about bills to Major so we couldn't help him anyway. At one point he wanted us to take his old rabbit. We said we would be happy to take Major back."

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