Community rallies round dog found abandoned
ADOG’S tragic plight inspired residents in Runcorn to rally round after the animal was abandoned in a wretched state and in the end needed to be put down.
The poor pooch was discovered by resident Iain McCharg in a car park on Shepherds Row in Castlefields at about 7.55pm last Thursday evening, September 21.
Initially it was suspected the canine had been beaten and left to die but now vets are convinced its emaciated condition indicated it had just been a victim of appalling neglect – fur was missing, it had an ulcer in its eye and had sores on its paws and legs.
Mr McCharg’s girlfriend Natalie Canavan rang around the authorities, the RSPCA and the vets to find someone who could provide emergency medical treatment, which in turn inspired Murdishaw businesswoman Jodie Fisher to launch a fundraising appeal to cover the vet bills for whatever it would take to save the dog.
Within hours, hundreds of pounds had flooded in.
Despite the efforts of Beech House Vets in Warrington, the dog was beyond saving and was put down.
The RSPCA has said the tan dog was believed to be a Staffordshire bull cross.
Miss Canavan said she had not seen the dog in the area and none of her neighbours recognised it, leaving its origin a mystery.
She added that she had trouble finding the relevant emergency contact and said her initial call to the RSPCA led to an automatic message that redirected any enquiries about strays to 101.
This in turn directed her to Halton Council dog wardens who said they would put the dog to sleep so she went back to the RSPCA and found someone to speak to and took the animal to Beech House 24-hour vets.
Despite the sad ending, Miss Canavan said she was grateful for residents’ support and for those who turned up and helped to move the dog.
She said: “I was getting very distressed and upset so I put a post on a selling site on Facebook for advice on how I can get help for this dog and within minutes people were turning up to my street to help us.
“When my partner found ‘ Lucky’ he was shaking and terrified and looked as though he had been badly beaten.
“Unfortunately my partner had to go to work, however some neighbours intervened in helping me.
“In the morning, Jodie had seen my updates on Facebook concerning Lucky’s condition and started a Just Giving page for Lucky raising an amazing £625 in just a few hours.
“Iain and I had already decided to take Lucky home with us once he was well enough, but we were getting offers from the public to adopt poor Lucky – it was overwhelming!
“Jodie kept in touch with us all day, not only concerned for Lucky but concerned for how the situation was making me feel, and she showed a lot of care, for which I am very grateful.
“The outcome is sadly that the investigating RSPCA officer who attended the next day at the ● vets came to a decision to put lucky to sleep – although I am very grateful that Lucky’s last night was in a warm and comfortable surgery and not the streets.”
An RSPCA spokesman said: “Very sadly the decision was made that the kindest thing to prevent ongoing and further suffering was to put the dog to sleep.
“It is obviously very worrying to hear about a dog being discovered in such condition and we would urge anyone who comes across an injured animal to contact the RSPCA’s 24-hour emergency line on 0300 1234 999.
“The number gets on average one call every 27 seconds though, so if people can’t get through to an operator straight away, then we do appeal for people to remain patient and someone will answer their call as soon as possible.”
Anyone with information or enquiries can contact the RSPCA on 0300 123 4999 using incident number 2188 of September 21.
The donations will now be paid to Beech House vets.