Our hearts went out to a local homeless family a few weeks ago when our Animal Welfare Officers were alerted to the owners, who were doing everything they could to keep their beloved deaf and blind dog, including sleeping in their car at night with him.

Our Animal Welfare Officers were notified of the homeless family by the Brent Dog Warden, who had received a few calls from local residents stating that they’d seen a thin Cocker Spaniel tied up on numerous occasions in the neighbourhood during the day. Local residents reported that they’d seen the dog tied up for a few hours and then it would disappear.

The Brent Dog Warden managed to track down the dog’s owners, and then passed their details on to us.

The family, who have a young child, had sadly lost their home all of a sudden and had to start living in a local hostel, which did not allow dogs. The family’s dog, named Mayki, means absolutely everything to them but their difficult living circumstances meant that they were put in a terrible position where they could have been torn apart from Mayki.

At the grand old age of 14, Mayki is an elderly boy who is also blind and deaf, and would have been heartbroken to be taken away from his family who he’d lived with since he was a pup.

In order to keep Mayki, the dad began sleeping in his car at night time to keep him warm and safe, and whilst they continued to search for a home, they tied him up in a park during the day, which was directly outside of their hostel so they could keep an eye on him at all times.

Unfortunately due to the stress of the situation and the fact that the family couldn’t afford to buy Mayki much food, his weight went down and he became quite thin. The family were devastated that they could not give Mayki everything that he needed, but despite all that they were going through, they were still determined not to give up on their dog.

Our Animal Welfare Manager, Zoe Edwards, said: “It was extremely clear that Mayki is so important to this family, including the small child, and they were broken hearted to not to be able to give Mayki the care and comforts he was used to, especially in his twilight years. There was no way they were going to let the tough situation they were in part them from their dog.”

Our Animal Welfare Officers managed to get in contact with Mayki’s family just in time. Our Officers provided the family with lots of food for Mayki and brought him into our Vet Clinic for veterinary care including health checks, vaccinations, neutering and dental care. Mayki’s family were so determined to be able to provide for him on their own that at first they were reluctant to take food from us.

After a little while the hostel also learnt of Mayki’s situation and made a special exception, letting Mayki’s owners sneak him in during the evenings.

Zoe, said: “We provided regular visits to the family and gave them food, blankets and a bed for Mayki to keep him more comfortable. We also gave him all the veterinary care he needed to keep the old boy healthy during this difficult time.”

“At The Mayhew Animal Home, our Animal Welfare Officers want to help and support people’s animals in crisis situations as much as we possibly can. We encourage people who find themselves in a crisis situation to get in contact with us as soon as they can.”

Thankfully Mayki is now back to a healthy weight and his owners have just landed on their feet and moved into a new home where Mayki can spend his elderly years.

Our Animal Welfare Officers will continue to keep in contact with Mayki’s family and check up on how he is doing.

Our Animal Welfare Officers work tirelessly to respond to animal crisis situations in the community to help carers and their animals whatever their circumstances are. Find out more about their work across London and please consider donating to help them help more animals in the community, like Mayki.
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