'Give him a chance': Heartbreaking note left behind with abandoned dog

Boockaboo was surrendered in the shelter cage outside RSPCA Sydney on Tuesday night. Photo / RSPCA

A dog that had been abandoned outside a Sydney RSPCA has been found with a heartbreaking letter attached to his cage.

The four-year-old shar-pei dog named Boockaboo was found on Tuesday locked in a cage at the RSPCA shelter with a letter from its previous owners saying they couldn't afford to pay for his skin condition treatment.

The note said Boockaboo was suffering from a genetic form of mange disease and the family could not keep up with the ongoing costs.

Boockaboo was surrendered in the shelter cage outside RSPCA Sydney on Tuesday night. Photo / RSPCA

"I have a genetic form of mange. It is not contractable to other animals, though the treatment is quite expensive, he is a lovely dog (sic)," the note reads.

"Please give him a chance, he is much loved and hard to let go."

The heartbreaking note said the family could no longer afford his expensive treatment. Photo / RSPCA

Mange is a type of skin disease caused by parasitic mites and the term suggests poor condition of the hairy coat due to infection.

RSPCA Sydney Media Liaison Stefania Kubowicz told Daily Mail Australia "the staff was left teary-eyed in the morning" when they saw the four-year-old cuddled up in one of the overnight cages.

"It's always terrible to see a pet dropped off overnight and when the shelter staff saw Booka in the morning, they were moved."

The RSPCA said Booka appeared to be well looked–after and said there was no other reason to think the family did not really love him.

Booka, 4, is suffering from a skin disease called mange and has been taken in by the RSPCA. Photo / RSPCA

"It does appear to us that they do really care about this dog," Kubowicz told Yahoo7.

"The note particularly is really uncommon. Generally people will dump an animal in there and not look back."

Booka didn't have any identification or a microchip, making it difficult for the RSPCA to locate the family.

The RSPCA has offered to help pay for Booka's treatment and asked the family to get in touch.

"It breaks our hearts to see loved family pets surrendered because they can't afford vet care, and we understand that can be a really difficult decision to make," RSPCA New South Wales chief executive Steve Coleman said in an earlier Facebook post.

"You can see the pain and confusion on a surrendered animal's face.

"They don't understand what they've done wrong to be alone in a cage, given up by their family. And we understand that this decision can be just as painful for the family struggling to make ends meet."