A loving home has been found just in time for Christmas for a malnourished and hugely pregnant golden retriever who was abandoned in a field for days.
In March, a four-year-old girl named Amber was discovered in a field in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
When someone tried to assist the terrified dog, she hid but ultimately grew tired and was located by a dog walker who took her to the clinic.
Amber had sarcoptic mange, and she was biting and scratching her itchily red skin, which was bleeding.
Elly Griffith, 38, brought Amber home, and her husband Adam, 42, and their two kids, ages six and nine, embraced her with open arms.
Staff members thought she had been abandoned after being used for “backyard breeding” and when her owners realized they would have to pay for veterinary help to deliver her enormous offspring.
She was then moved to the Burford, Oxfordshire, facility of the Blue Cross animal charity.
Despite their heart rates starting to decline while they were still in the womb, eight puppies were successfully delivered by emergency C-section.
The charity had to step in to make sure the pups survived since Amber was too frail and overwhelmed to nurse all of her puppies.
The pups, whose names are Theodore, Cider, Dougal, Kasper, Winnie, Holly, Sasha, and Bailey, were fed every three hours by more than 25 staff members and volunteers who performed 12-hour shifts.
All nine canines were “touch and go,” according to the charity, but Amber started to gradually get better, and she and her puppies started to thrive.
All of the puppies have been adopted by new families, and Amber, who was taken in by the Griffith family of Witney, Oxfordshire, in time for Christmas, also found her happily ever after.
Henry, a 12-year-old golden retriever, passed away in May of this year, so the family turned to Blue Cross to search for a replacement.
Elly said: ‘We wanted a friend for Stanley after the sad passing of our other golden retriever.
‘The Blue Cross showed me some of the photos of how bad things had been for Amber when she came to the rehoming centre.
‘She was covered in horrible skin, and she was pregnant and very skinny.
‘All the puppies had been rehomed but Amber was still looking for a new home.
‘We have children, so we wanted to make sure Amber had a good temperament before we took her home.
‘When me and my two kids went to visit her, we just fell in love with her. She is so calm, sweet, and relaxed.
‘We thought she would be very scared after everything that had happened with her.
‘I don’t know how but she is so good with people despite the horrible neglect she has had.
‘She still trusts people and is so sweet and welcomed us straight away.
‘Amber loves the garden and loves going for walks in the woods.
‘It’s just been fantastic having Amber settle into our family and being able to give her the home she deserves after being used as a puppy farm dog.
‘This criminal business can be as lucrative as drug dealing. It’s nasty stuff.
‘Amber was so ill and they didn’t think she would survive having these pups so the puppy farmers just kicked her out and left her to die and luckily someone found her.
‘There are so many dogs out there like Amber that haven’t been so lucky.
‘We really want to spoil Amber this Christmas.
‘The kids love her, they love playing in the garden with her and we are all very excited for her first Christmas with us.’
Hannah Wiltshire, Blue Cross centre manager at the Burford rehoming centre said: ‘Poor Amber is just one of the pets we have helped this year and we are delighted she has found a wonderful loving home in time for Christmas.
‘We have never been needed more and I’m incredibly proud that our team of staff and volunteers worked around the clock to give Amber’s puppies the best possible start to life.
‘Without our help it is unlikely Amber or her litter would have survived.’
Source: Daily Mail
