He'd like to think if one of his beloved pets was suffering and in need of assistance, others would lend a hand.

That's what he did on Monday afternoon when he came across a helpless dog shivering near a drain on his way home from school.

In an effort to save the poor pooch's life, Jacob made several SOS calls to his mother Sharon for advice.

Mrs Brown contacted Needy Paws, who suggested she call council rangers, but they were too busy to help.

"I was walking home from school when I spotted what looked like a big fur ball. Then I saw a nose and eyes and that it was actually a dog," Jacob said.

"I tried to pat it and didn't really know what to do. I didn't have my mobile phone on me, so I had to run home and ring Mum at work. I asked her what I should do.

"She said she'd ring someone so I went back to make sure it was okay. The first time, I waited with it for about a half-an-hour, but no one came. I went home and called Mum again. All up, I waited three hours. I didn't want to leave it because I wouldn't be able to stop worrying about it if I did.

"I'm really disappointed that no one bothered to come and help."

When Mrs Brown finished work, she took the older, female dog to a vet and despite their best efforts, she later died.

Mrs Brown is angry no one seemed to care if the dog lived or died and wants to know where locals can turn for help.

"The question is, what are we supposed to do?" she said.

"I am furious with all the local animal organisations and our council rangers no one came to help, they all had more important things to do apparently.

"At least the poor little thing's final hours were more comfortable than they would have been outside in the cold."

Council's Shireen Donaldson confirmed the process was to contact council rangers, who would normally attend as soon as possible. However, she said they had an "unprecedented number" of call outs on Monday.

"The process is to ring council and if they are available they will attend," she said.

"It is unfortunate on Monday we had a dangerous dog attack, which takes precedence, and a lot of other call outs. We ended up filling up the pound.

"We do apologise, but we have to prioritise our calls."