SCOTLAND'S 'LONELIEST DOG' FINDS A HOME AFTER TWO YEARS IN SHELTER
- Staffordshire bull terrier Roxy, aged 5, was given up after her previous owner became unable to care for her
- Dad Gerrard Brown and daughter Dawn 'fell in love with her face' after spotting Roxy's picture on the wall
- Scottish SPCA now changing the way it works to ensure no animal has to spend that length of time in a kennel environment again
Scotland's ‘loneliest dog’ has finally found a home - after spending over two years in a shelter.
Roxy, a Staffordshire bull terrier, was given up after her previous owner became unable to care for her, and since then has spent almost half of her life in the Scottish SPCA’s Lanarkshire kennels.
The five-year-old struggled to adapt to her new environment at first, but staff were eventually able to gain her trust and begin the process of finding her a forever home.
Numerous appeals sent out for her to find a family to call her own to no avail and visitors to the centre would also overlook the dog until dad Gerrard Brown and daughter Dawn spotted her picture on the wall.
Mr Brown said: ‘We instantly fell in love with her face.
‘The team managed to arrange a meeting that same day. She came out bouncing about and was an instant bundle of joy.
‘The whole family went down again to meet her and we all took her for a walk. We arranged another couple of visits and then fostered her for two weeks.
‘It all went well and we completed the paperwork for her to come home with us and be officially part of our family.’
Roxy has finally found her forever home but the charity is changing the way it works to ensure no animal has to spend that length of time in a kennel environment again.
Rehabilitation operations lead Rachael Maclean said: ‘Thankfully Roxy’s case is rare as we want to find animals their forever home as quickly as possible.
‘Last year we saw a 25 per cent increase in arrivals to our animal rescue and rehoming centres across Scotland, with 6,944 animals taken into our care in 2023.
‘We also rehomed 3,881 animals to loving new homes, fostered 459 animals, and treated 5,163 wild animals.
‘Our aims for 2024 are to enhance our adoption and fostering services with an expanded team.
‘This means getting animals into the right homes faster and improving the experience for animals, fosterers and adopters.’
■ Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport
Read more 2024-06-27T14:55:47Z dg43tfdfdgfd