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    • 07 Jul, 2016

    Emaciated Dog Finds His Happily Ever After

    An emaciated dog who had been passed around between several owners has finally found happiness at his new forever home after being rescued by The Mayhew Animal Home.

    When our Animal Welfare Officers first discovered ten year old Labrador and Collie cross, Ben, he was emaciated and living in poor conditions. But three months later with the help of Mayhew Officers, staff and vets, Ben has transformed into a healthy, happy dog and has even landed himself a loving forever home.

    Ben was first alerted to the attention of our Animal Welfare Officers when his owner came forward for help as they were struggling to look after him properly.

    Unfortunately his owner was in a vulnerable situation, and was living in run-down conditions and was unable to offer the proper food, care and medical treatment Ben needed. The owner said that they were worried he needed urgent medical attention, and could not take him to the vets and pay for the treatment themselves.

    Ben emaciated

    The owner had got Ben from a friend who told them that he was three years old, and had been looking after him for seven months before they came to us for help.

    Sadly when our Animal Welfare Officers went to pick up Ben he was completely emaciated, lying in a pool of diarrhoea and unable to use his back legs which had collapsed due to muscle weakness. The owner told our Officers that Ben had seemed fine until two weeks ago when he began losing weight, however that was unlikely, considering the state that he was in, he was probably deteriorating for much longer than that.

    Our Officers immediately brought Ben back to The Mayhew, where our vet team could tend to him and make him feel more comfortable. After inspection, our vets discovered that Ben was also suffering from gut and digestion issues, and put him on a drip to get his strength back, slowly started to introduce him to small meals to ease him back onto a healthy diet and, of course, gave him plenty of love and affection.

    Our vets also discovered that Ben was microchipped, which had contact details of his original owner and his date of birth, which showed that he is actually ten years old.

    Ben 16

    Whilst Ben was recovering, our Officers got to work tracking down his original owners. Sadly they found out that Ben’s original owner had died and their son had given Ben away years ago, so it’s possible he had been passed between owners many times.

    Thankfully after receiving medical attention from our vets and lots of care, love and attention from our kennels team, Ben was able to get back on his paws and began to show his sweet-natured and affectionate character.

    Our Head of Animal Welfare, Gillian Notton, said: “We are so glad that Ben has now fully recovered and that we were able to find him a loving forever home.”

    “At The Mayhew we help hundreds of people in crisis situations every year. We absolutely encourage people who are having problems looking after their pet to get in contact with us so we can see what we can do to help; we do not judge anyone and are here to help the animal and owner as much as we can.”

    IMG_3234

    As soon as he was fully recovered, neutered and ready for adoption, Ben found a home straight away. He has since settled in really well and is enjoying his new life in his loving home, and particularly enjoys cuddling up to his new owners and going on long walks to the park. (See below for a few words from happily rehomed Ben himself!)

    Ben’s new owner, Eileen Barker, said: “Ben is indeed quite lovely and has become an integral part of our family – the grandchildren adore him too!”

    Our Animal Welfare Officers rescue hundreds of abandoned, neglected and abused animals every year, respond to animal welfare issues out in the community and provide ongoing support to carers and pet owners in crisis situations. Find out more about their work here and please consider a donation to help them help even more animals like Ben.

    If you or anyone you know needs to speak to a Mayhew Animal Welfare Officer, then you can call us on 020 8962 8000.

    [donate text=”Donate to help dogs like Ben” source=”Ben”]

    A letter from Ben

    Since going to his forever home, gorgeous boy Ben has been busy enjoying his new life (and has clearly been developing his writing skills). His new owner sent us this lovely letter from Ben himself telling us how he’s been getting on, aww!

    ben at home

    Dear Mayhew,

    How are you? I hope you are not missing me too much. It’s a bit strange here, but I’m getting used to it and Peter and Eileen are doing their best to make me feel welcome.

    Anyway, you asked me to let you know how I was getting on, so here are a few pictures of me at my new home.

    Peter and Eileen want me to sleep in a big wicker basket they got me, but, quite frankly, I prefer the floor. Particularly attractive are the papers surrounding Eileen while she’s working – I like snuggling up in them at her feet best. If she really doesn’t want me to walk on them after I’ve been paddling in the odd puddle, why doesn’t she do a bit of tidying up? Peter agrees that the floor is not necessarily the best place to file papers. Ah well, each to his (her) own, I s’pose.

    I really like car drives – I jump into the back and it’s fun looking out of the window, though I have to admit suburbia is not exactly my cuppa, so to speak. However, when we get to Vale Farm there’s plenty of space for me to run about – that long rope thing you gave them is a laugh – no way could they keep me near them with that – however, I come back when they call – after a few more sniffs – I don’t want to upset them too much – after all, they’ve only got two legs.

    Ben going home

    I’m quite looking forward to meeting Charlie. He’s just finished his GCEs, so I gather he’ll be over to see me soon. He might be able to throw the ball a bit further than P&E. I gather he’s got two cats – and a snake that’s about a metre long, two geckos and a chameleon or something. Not much fun there. But P&E say that Charlie loved Jess and is sure to want to take me for walks and spoil me.

    I overheard Eileen talking to a friend on the phone and evidently they love me to bits. Well, that’s all for now. I just wanted to touch base and let you all know I’m okay and I’m really grateful for all you did for me. Quite restored my faith in you humans, you did.

    Woof for now,

    Ben.

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