News

A blind dog has become the first to find a loving new home under Blue Cross’s new Home Direct scheme in Southampton.

Pads, a seven-year-old border collie with one club foot, did not have to spend a single night in kennels thanks to our scheme, which helps pets go straight from their old home to their new family.

Sadly, Pads’ elderly owner was struggling to cope and was due to move into sheltered accommodation so he made the heartbreaking decision to find a new home for his beloved pet.

But Pads, who went blind three years ago, would have found life in kennels particularly stressful, so his owner agreed to keep him on until a new home was found.

Luckily, Doreen and Jim Pile, from Romsey, who had lost their own blind collie Will, aged 14, in January, spotted Pads and knew they could give him the wonderful life he deserved.

Doreen says: “After we lost our old dog, my husband kept saying, ‘I’d like another Will’ but we never thought we would find another dog like him.

“We didn’t want a boisterous dog at our age so when we went to Blue Cross and they told us about Pads, he sounded perfect.”

Doreen adds: “We were taken by Blue Cross staff to meet him at his old owner’s house so we could see what he was like in his own environment and we were very impressed with the way it worked.

“I think it helped his old owner to meet us and we told him we had owned a blind dog for eight years so he knew Pads was going to a loving home.”

During these times of recession, there is more demand than ever on Blue Cross services and we are trying to find more ways to help as many pets as possible.

Our Home Direct scheme has been a great success in other parts of the UK already with many pets, from dogs to degus, being rehomed.

Help more dogs like Pads Help us by making a small, one-off donation.