‘When farmer told me they’d shot my lovely lost dog Lucy dead I just fell to the floor...’
THIS CHRISTMAS, First Dates waitress Laura Tott will be cuddling up on her parents’ sofa with her new rescue dogs, Tommi and Ella. But amid the joy of celebrating the festive season surrounded by family and pets, there will be a hint of sadness for Laura.
In February this year, the 25-year-old’s beloved dog Lucy, whom she’d had for less than a year, was shot dead while the pair were out on a walk near her home in Stoke-on-trent.
“It’s really hard without Lucy as I only got one Christmas with her, and it doesn’t feel like enough,” says Laura, who recently qualified as a paramedic as well as regularly appearing on the Channel 4 show.
“She was so involved last year. I was working so only had one day off to spend with my parents Lisa and Ashleigh.
“We went to a pet-friendly hotel on December 25 and they had treats for the dogs and she ate her own mini-dinner. It was so special.”
The tragic accident happened after
Laura let Lucy off the lead in an area where it was safe to do so.
It was a windy day, and as the pair started to chase each other around, Lucy suddenly ran off.
“I looked for two and a half hours,” says Laura. “I knocked on the door of a farm and asked the woman if she’d seen a dog. She asked me if she was a brindle dog, and I was so excited as I thought they’d found her.then she handed me the collar and said, ‘We’ve shot her’. I just fell to the floor.”
Lucy had managed to get over a large stone wall in the area they were walking in, and had run for just under a mile. She got through a hole in a fence on to the farmer’s land, but the star is adamant there’s no blame attached to them.
“They said at that point they were shooting one dog a month. I understand why they did it as they have to protect their livestock.
“I can’t be angry as they did what they needed to do.”
It took Laura 36 hours to get Lucy’s body, which she describes as “the worst time of my life”.
“You don’t expect to go for a walk and come home without your dog,” she says. “There was a bit of arguing back and forth about getting her body back, but eventually the farmer said sorry.
“I had to go and get her out of a hole, but I felt better once I had her back. I laid her to rest at a crematorium in the moors near Manchester.they laid out candles around her body and it was as beautiful as it could have been.”
Now Laura is mending her heartbreak over Lucy by bonding with her new dogs, Ella and Tommi, who are both thought to be American Bulldog/labrador cross-breeds.
The star is passionate about adopting rescue animals and, having found Lucy at Manchester Dogs’ Home, went online again to search for a new pet from a rescue centre.
“Rescue dogs can have a bad reputation but I try to use my platform to convince people it’s the most rewarding thing you can do. I would never not rescue now. My dogs seem so grateful, as if they’ve been given a second chance at life.
“But if anyone’s thinking of getting a dog for Christmas, it shouldn’t be a spur of the moment thing. It’s not a novelty gift you can return at any time – a dog is for 10 or 15 years, and you have to be willing to put the time in training them.”
AFEWWEEKS after Lucy’s death, Laura came across Tommi on the Action Aid For Animals website. “He struck me as looking a bit similar to Lucy. People say you shouldn’t choose a pet who looks like your previous one but as soon as I went to visit him he ran up to me and I thought, ‘Yes, that’s my dog!’ In fact, their personalities couldn’t be more different.”
Five months later the same charity contacted Laura about another dog who had also come from Croatia, like four-yearold Tommi.
Ella, who’s thought to be about two, hadn’t settled with her foster carer so Laura stepped in, and when it came to giving her back found she couldn’t do it.
Now, both dogs have bonded with each other and are a great support to Laura at the end of a hard-working day.
She does two 12-hour day shifts a week with the Ambulance Service, and two night shifts, as well as her filming commitments for First Dates.
“The thing with being a paramedic is you can’t take it home as you do see some upsetting things.
“Sometimes all I want to do is sit on the sofa with my dogs, watch pointless TV and chill out.they get you through the bad days – I can take them out for a walk and forget about everything.”
The pooches are definitely going to be pampered this Christmas, with matching festive bandanas and personalised stockings full of doggy treats.
In the run-up, Laura will be playing the Petplan Advent Calendar as well, where owners can win prizes for their furry friends.
“We get to open our calendars throughout December, but we tend to forget about giving our pets something,” she says.
“I’m spending Christmas with my family and my sister Rebecca.
“We’ll probably be in a food coma on the 25th and then on Boxing Day we’ll take the dogs for a long walk.
“I’m so glad I’ve got Ella and Tommi and my family to spend Christmas with this year. Losing Lucy would hit me a lot harder if I was on my own and didn’t have my dogs with me.”
● Laura Tott is working with Petplan to support its Pet Advent Calendar campaign, helping pet owners get their furry friends involved in the festivities.