From starving to star

ADOG rescued from starving to death has become a “life-saver” for a cancer sufferer. Ravi, a mastiff-ridgeback cross, was skin and bone and had only 24 hours to live when he was picked by the RSPCA last December.

As he was gradually nursed back to health he was taken in by Gayle Fountain, a veterinary nurse and dog behaviour specialist who had recently been diagnosed with lymphoma.

Gayle, 49, had just started chemo, had low energy levels and already had four other rescue dogs.

But after being shown pictures of the dog and told his story by RSPCA inspector Samantha Durrant, a close friend, she agreed to give him a home.

Gayle, of Berkhamsted, Herts, said: “I felt worse than I’ve ever felt in my life and that’s when Samantha told me about this poor emaciated rescue dog who she thought could make a nice distraction during my treatment.

“I knew that this was destiny, the timing of him coming into my life.”

The dog had been named Rex but

Gayle immediately changed this to Ravi, a Sanskrit word meaning ray of sun.

She said: “I thought he’d have issues but he was so loving it was incredible.

“Every time I’d come home after having chemo he seemed to sense how I was feeling. He would instantly jump on the sofa to cuddle me and look into my eyes as if to say, ‘It’ll be okay’.

“I can’t put a price on what he’s done for me during these horrible few months, the lift he has given me.

“Just knowing Ravi will be there keeps me smiling. To give him a new life when I almost lost mine feels so magical.”

Ravi was rescued from Edmonton, North London, after a tip-off and nursed at Harmsworth Animal Hospital.

Inspector Samantha, who described him as the thinnest dog she had ever seen, said: “We all cried when we first saw him. You could see every rib.” ■■Ravi’s journey will be shown on C5’s Dog Rescuers, presented by Alan Davies, on September 12. To support the RSPCA text LOVE to 87023