Pooches find new home

THE heart-rending tale of blind collie Clyde and his guide dog Bonnie being abandoned on a Waveney street has prompted an overwhelming response from the public who have flooded a rescue centre with offers for the loveable pair.

More than 500 dog lovers from all over the world have contacted the Meadow Green Dog Rescue Centre since staff appealed for someone to take in the border collies.

Cherie Cootes from the centre said she had been staggered by the level of interest in the dogs and had not had time to respond to most of the inquiries.

“It's been bizarre to say the least,” she said. “We've had calls from America, Australia, a Brazilian TV station who want to come down and do a bit of filming, and a German television station.

“I got about 200 emails and in excess of 300 phone calls.”

She said the centre had been inundated with offers after the story was reported last week which was then picked up by media outlets across the world, adding: “We've got people from Fife to Devon, five calls from Northern and Southern Ireland and a Dutch lady in Spain who wanted to come across.

“I've got an Australian couple visiting Norfolk in a month's time, who are very interested in returning home with the dogs and asking what can we do to sort out pet passports to take them back.”

Miss Cootes said she wanted to let people know she was deeply grateful for the offers.

“We want to say thank-you - it's lovely how good people have been but it's overwhelming on a scale you can't believe,” she said.

Centre staff struggled to re-home Bonnie and Clyde together after they were picked up in Blundeston by a member of the public during a thunderstorm a month ago, even though they share a strong bond and both have an affectionate temperament.

Clyde, whose blindness is caused by a degenerative disease, is nervous in unfamiliar surroundings and relies on Bonnie to act as his eyes by keeping his face in contact with her as they roam.

But their luck has changed and on Wednesday the collies were taken from the centre in Hales Green, near Loddon, to start life at their new home in south Norfolk after the final checks had been completed and the pair had been introduced to the owner's other dogs.

Miss Cootes said she was particularly happy to re-home them locally because Clyde's blindness meant he does not travel well.

“It's just a marvellous place - a person who's had rescue dogs all her life,” she said. “It's a huge rural area. If I could have picked the absolute dream place where I knew those dogs would be safe it would have been there.”

She added: “We never dreamed they would get that home. It's brilliant.”

She said centre staff were continuing the work to re-home the other 50 dogs at Meadow Green.

Visit www.dogrescuenorfolk.com to find out about other dogs at the centre.