This is Mia, the lurcher who’s always got a smile on her face even though she had a pretty tough start in life.
Lovely Mia arrived at the RSPCA’s Great Ayton animal centre in October last year after she was signed over into the charity’s care by her previous owner.
At the time, she was frightened and underweight, weighing just 18 kg, when the average weight of a healthy lurcher is between 27-32 kg.
Because she was so malnourished, she’d always be busy searching for scraps, and would wolf her food down so fast, staff had barely had a chance to put her bowl on the floor.
But after just a month in the charity’s care, Mia’s weight got to a healthy 24 kg, and in January, she was finally ready to find a new forever home.
However, the poor girl has been overlooked by adopters for six long months, having not had a single rehoming application in all that time.
Kennel supervisor Erin Dixon, said: ‘Mia is a wonderful dog with a very sweet personality who always seems to be smiling, although as much as we all adore her, we can’t understand why she hasn’t had a single application in nearly seven months.
‘Mia was skin and bone when she arrived and we could tell she’d experienced hunger. Food was always at the forefront of her mind and we’d have to scatter her meals on the floor to try and slow her down, otherwise it would be gone in seconds.
‘As time’s gone on she’s become less obsessed about where her next meal is coming from. She now enjoys going on a walk and exploring and running around, rather than constantly sniffing and searching for scraps of food.
‘She’s also proved to be a wonderful dog to socialise with others and is particularly gentle with puppies. If we have new handlers who need a bit of a confidence boost we’ll always place them with Mia, she really is a delightful character to be around.
‘She’s made tremendous progress, not just from a weight point of view, but her overall demeanour has changed too. She was quite scared when she arrived, but she’s full of life now and always on the go.’
To find out more about Mia or register an interest in adopting her please visit Great Ayton’s website, email greatayton@rspca.org.uk or call 0300 123 0743.
Hopeful adopters should know that Mia travels well, and can live with older teenagers who have experience with being around big, bouncy dogs.
While this isn’t essential, she’d also do well with owners who have experience caring for sight hounds.
Because of her rough start in life, Mia can still be food proud and would therefore be happiest if she was kept as the only dog in the house. She can absolutely not live with any cats or other small furry critters.
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