Elderly dog finds forever home in time for Christmas

An elderly dog has finally found his forever home, just in time for the festive season.

Despite the name, Rookie is anything but - he is 12, and was rescued by the RSPCA in August 2022 after vets in Birmingham contacted the charity concerned about his welfare.

The Staffie's owner had failed to turn up for a follow-up appointment at the surgery, taking him in with large open wounds down to the bone and in an emaciated condition, the RSPCA said.

But now Rookie is spending Christmas in his new home, after his foster family realised they could not part with him and adopted him permanently.

The original owner was sentenced last month after being found guilty in his absence of offences linked to Rookie's poor condition, the RSPCA said.

Inspector Kate Levesley, who investigated the case, said Rookie had been prescribed medication but his owner failed to bring him back in for the treatment, leaving vets concerned Rookie was suffering.

She said: "Rookie came into our care and was admitted to our Birmingham Animal Hospital as he needed urgent veterinary treatment.

"The original vets who saw him had recommended he was euthanised but, thankfully, with round-the-clock care, our team managed to alleviate his suffering and help him start to recover."

Rookie caught ringworm and had to be kept in the hospital's isolation unit for a couple of months where he became really popular with all of the nurses, who nicknamed him Sir Rookie.

Rookie was moved into the RSPCA's Birmingham Animal Centre a week before Christmas 2022, with the team managing to find him a foster home while his case was investigated. He moved in there in March 2023.

In August 2024, he was rushed back into the animal hospital for emergency surgery to have his spleen and a mass removed, which was later revealed to be benign.

Birmingham kennel supervisor Kelly Legg said: "We all feared the worst for poor Rookie and he stayed with us for some time to recover."

The day after his surgery, he was signed over by his previous owner and started to recuperate.

Ms Legg said: "Being able to call his fosterers to tell them he was on the road to recovery and could go home, and that he'd never have to go back to his previous owner was one of the best calls I'd made in a long time.

"He's now been formally adopted by his fosterers [who] have been so dedicated to his care and love him so much. It's a really happy ending after such a rollercoaster for poor Rookie."

Rookie is now facing Christmas in a loving new home with Malcolm and Brenda Britton, a retired couple from Halesowen.

They said they thought the absolute world of Rookie and that they had created a really strong bond with him.

"He's totally spoiled and has definitely taken over our lives - but we wouldn't have it any other way. And after everything he's been through, he deserves it," they said.

His new owners even had his own flag made, which they now fly proudly in their garden.

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