A six-year-old boy has penned a book in support of abused animals after watching a heart wrenching RSPCA advert.
Oscar Payne, six, came up with the novel idea after bursting into tears at seeing animals living in pain and distress.
The nine-page book titled ‘The Old Man And His Pets’, features a story about an old man who donates his money to the RSPCA, and rescues all of the animals.
He’s so far sold 18 copies of the £1 read, but now plans to have more printed after being plagued with requests.
We’ve raised him to believe that kindness is more important than worrying about money, and so printing costs and things are irrelevant because his cause is what’s most important to us.
Mum Hayley, 33, said: “I was shocked for him to come up with this. It’s very mature. He’s a thinker and he’s got a kind heart. He’s a terrific little child.
“When he saw the advert, he started to cry and howl in a way that I’d never heard him do before.
“I tried to settle him into bed, but he was still very upset. He said he’d like to donate £10 of his birthday money, which for a child is a lot of money.
“I thought, ‘crikey he’s really serious’, and so I said that I would match his £10.”
“That’s a lot of money for a child, and I was going to match it. But somehow we got talking about books – he had written a book last year, and he said he could write another book and sell it.”
Oscar, who lives in Bungay, Suffolk, with his dad and younger brother Elliot, burst into tears one evening while watching television with his family, when he saw the RSPCA advert on animal abuse.
He is donating all of the proceeds of the book, which he also illustrated himself, to the animal charity.
Hayley, who runs her own cake business, said: “The advert showed a dog with a growth on his head, and a cat that had been chucked out and rescued. Oscar howled in a way that I’ve never heard him cry before.
“This is the first time he’s ever realised that people could treat pets and animals badly, and that shocked him.
“I’m so proud of the care and attention he’s put into the book.
“We’ve raised him to believe that kindness is more important than worrying about money, and so printing costs and things are irrelevant because his cause is what’s most important to us.
“We have a long list of copies still to deliver and a friend has asked us to bring some along to her BBQ because she’s setting up a table for him to sell them from.
“The response we’ve received from everyone so far is incredible and Oscar is always so excited and asks every day for an update on how many copies he’s sold.”
