We love a happy ending here at the Manchester Evening News, particularly if we’ve had a small part to play. And instead of bringing you our usual ‘dog of the week’ in need of a home, we’ve got a lovely story that sees one of Manchester Dogs Home’s longest residents finally find a home.
Back in June, we featured Husky cross Diesel, who at the time had spent 289 days in rescue. By the end of August, he’d spent more than a year of his short life at the local kennels in Harpurhey.
Staff at the home had been puzzled by the lack of interest in him, as he was a loveable young dog popular with everyone who met him.
READ MORE: Manchester Dogs Trust hoping to find homes for these adorable 'Old Age Pooches'
But two-year-old Diesel has finally got his happy ending, and has moved down south with his new family - the Watsons.
When the Dogs’ Home posted a video of Diesel on its Facebook page in August, it grabbed the attention of Londoner Mike Watson, who then made a four-hour drive to Manchester to meet Diesel.
He brought along a friend’s dog to see how they reacted to each other, and after a successful introduction the whole Watson family – Mike, Christine and their children, Connor, 19 and Eva, 17 - went along to meet the pooch, too.
The family fell in love with the crossbreed, and adopted him straight away, with staff lining the corridor to wave goodbye to the pup.
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Diesel has now settled into his new life down south, enjoying long daily walks in parkland, paddling in lakes and generally making himself at home.
“People stop me all the time to ask about Diesel,” new owner, Mike, said. “It’s like he’s been with us forever. He’s such a good boy, and a wonderful ambassador for rescue dogs.”
Mike has encouraged anyone thinking about having a dog join their family to consider adopting from a local rescue.
He added: “We’ve always had rescue dogs and I struggle to understand why people would buy dogs when so many wonderful animals are in shelters through no fault of their own, desperate for loving homes. I’d encourage anyone to consider adopting a rescue dog, and particularly to consider an older dog where you don’t get the problems associated with puppies, who can be messy!”
Home manager, Anna Stansfield, has found that some dogs, like Diesel, are staying much longer than usual at the shelter.
She said: “Diesel had been inexplicably overlooked for so long, and when he was finally adopted by the Watson family, the staff lined up to wave goodbye to him. There were some tears but they were tears of joy.
“We’re currently finding that some dogs are staying much longer than usual at the shelter, which could be to do with so many people having bought puppies during the Covid lockdowns, or perhaps a knock-on effect from the cost of living crisis.”
Anyone interested in adopting a dog from Manchester Dogs’ Home should visit www.dogshome.net .
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