Abandoned dog saved moments before being put down by Wirral vet

An abandoned dog has been given a new lease of life after being saved just seconds away from death.

Dr Sharon Williams, a vet from Celandine Wood Animal Rescue (CWAR) in Wirral, had been sent a message asking if she could help Pumpkin the pocket bully.

But, when she called back, she was told it was “too late” and he had been taken to be put down.

Dr Williams then got a second call when, by a twist of fate, the vet could not find a vein to administer Pumpkin’s final sedation.

She then drove five hours to pick him up.

Dr Williams said Pumpkin, despite everything, still “wagged his tail” when he saw her.

“You could just tell he just wanted to be loved,” she said.

Pumpkin – a cross between an American bully and a Patterdale terrier – was dumped by his owner and tied to the gates of a council-run dog pound.

Under the care of the kennels, he was unexplainably losing weight – going from 30 kilos to 15 within a few months.

Dr Williams said the kennels expected he had cancer and he was booked in for euthanasia as “council-run pounds often can’t afford veterinary care”.

After receiving a message asking if she could save Pumpkin, Dr Williams phoned the kennels back but was told she was “too late”.

“I phoned the woman and said ‘Yes, we can take Pumpkin’. But she said, ‘Oh, you’re too late, they’ve just sedated him and they’re now putting him to sleep’,” said Dr Williams.

She said she felt sick knowing she had not been able to save him.

“I’d been out cleaning my yard when I was texted about saving Pumpkin.

“My heart sank, knowing that if I’d have just seen the text a few minutes before, he would still be alive.”

But then her phone rang again.

“She said ‘The vet can’t find a vein. Can you still take him?’.”

Dr Williams and a volunteer, Paul, then drove five hours to pick Pumpkin up.

She said: “He was in a cold office, lying on a stone floor and he had a little pumpkin-coloured jumper on, which is where we got the name from, because he was actually called George.

“Although he was totally emaciated and looked tired, sad and ill, he wagged his tail when he saw us.”

After undergoing blood tests and a specialist ultrasound scan under CWAR’s care, Pumpkin was found not to have cancer, but food allergies.

He was given a specialist hypoallergenic diet and soon began putting on weight.

Dr Williams said: “Within weeks he was like a different dog. He was thriving and full of life.”

Pumpkin has now found his forever home with one of the rescue’s dog walkers.

“He just loves people and is always happy when snuggled next to someone on the sofa,” said Dr Williams.

CWAR is facing closure unless it raises £500,000 to set up new premises.

It must vacate its shelter by 14 June because the landowner is selling up. It is fundraising for its longer-term plans to build a £1m permanent facility that will quadruple rescue spaces.

The Merseyside-based rescue currently has 50 dogs in its care and also takes in cats and wildlife.