An abandoned dog who came close to death after being found with his brothers and sisters in a guinea pig cage, is enjoying a new lease of life with Nottinghamshire Police.
Eze, a two-year-old spaniel, was one of a dozen severely dehydrated and distressed puppies found by police in the back of a van in Carlton in March.
Despite coming perilously close to death he was nursed back to health by staff at the RSPCA’s Radcliffe Animal Centre and has now been adopted into the Nottinghamshire Police family.
Inspector Rob Lawton, district commander for Rushcliffe, was still unsure whether Eze would survive when he agreed to take him back to his family home and give him the love and attention he craved.
However, in the months since, the dog has not only thrived – he has found himself a new day job as a mental health wellbeing dog with the force.
As part of the national Oscar Kilo wellbeing programme Eze is now working at Nottinghamshire Police headquarters, providing emotional support to staff.
Inspector Lawton explained: “Eze was one of around a dozen dogs we found we found after a tip off from a member of the public. Sadly they were all very poorly when we found them. There had been an outbreak of the deadly parvovirus and – despite the amazing work of the staff at the Radcliffe Animal Centre – most of them could not be saved.
“We have other dogs already and I knew we could give the best possible home to him.
“But when he first came to us, he really was in a shocking state and we were unsure whether he would survive. He hardly had any hair and had hardly been around people in his short life. For us it was really a case of starting from scratch and giving him a life as a puppy he’d just never had.
“Eze is fantastic and really enjoys being at work, he loves everyone and the officers and staff who work alongside him thoroughly enjoy having him around. The difference he makes to people’s wellbeing is amazing.”
Ella Carpenter, manager of the Radcliffe Animal Centre, said: “To see Eze today is really heart-warming. It is everything we are about as an organisation – the recuse of dogs, the rehabilitation of dogs and the eventual rehoming of them. Eze is that story and it is fantastic to see him looking so well.
“You can see that his owners have spent so much time training and socialising with him. He is so much more confident and that is what it is all about for us – finding the right dog the right home so they can live their best life going forward.”
For more information about the Radcliffe Animal Centre and how to support their life-saving work in the local community please visit www.rspca-radcliffe.org.uk
