Starved dog Ollie rescued after house fire

An elderly dog who was starved by his owner has found a new forever home after a house fire alerted police to his plight.

Ollie, the 14-year-old labrador cross was rescued by the RSPCA after police called to a house fire in Orpington in Kent realised he was severely emaciated.

His story will now be featuring on the small screen in the Channel 5 Dog Rescuers show presented by Alan Davies.

Deputy Chief Inspector Anthony Pulfer collected Ollie from the police station on May 18 last year.

Although neither Ollie or his owner were hurt in the kitchen blaze, once the veteran dog was removed from the property the emergency services soon realised he was in a bad state.

He was extremely thin and all his bones were clearly visible. Initially it was thought he was so arthritic that he could only open his jaw an inch, and so the poor dog couldn’t eat and was almost starving to death.

Inspector Pulfer said: “He was severely emaciated. He was in such a state and for such an elderly dog I just can’t believe we’ve managed to turn things around for him.

“He’s a really nice dog and it upsets me that at 14 years old he has spent all his life with someone who then lets him starve. Pets should have care throughout their lives from when they are born to when they die. Poor Ollie was emaciated, lethargic, dehydrated and running on air really.

“It soon became clear that the problems with his jaw had not been addressed by his owner and so he was struggling to eat or drink because of the pain. After being in our care his weight gain was tremendous, especially for an elderly animal. In just a couple of weeks he started putting on weight and you could no longer see his ribs.”

Ollie was taken to the RSPCA South Godstone Animal Centre before being fostered by Liz and Gary Wigzell.

The couple have fostered five dogs from South Godstone so far and Inspector Pulfer praised their efforts in taking in the most difficult and vulnerable dogs.

He added: “They are really good with dogs and have three labradors themselves.

“They are just amazing people who don’t like to see a dog in a kennel. They’ve previously fostered a blind dog called Billy and an overweight springer spaniel and all of them have now been rehomed.”

Liz and Gary were happy to foster elderly Ollie until the end of his life but amazingly he found his new forever home with Barbara Heaton-Smith in Bourn in Cambridgeshire.

Barbara teaches veterinary nursing and is a huge advocate for adopting older dogs.

She said: “He is settling in really well. He’s such a good boy. He’s completely deaf - when our smoke alarm went off my other geriatric dog Rosie was very distressed but he didn’t react at all.

“His tail will start wagging when I smile or if I look at him in a certain way he thinks he’s done something wrong - he’s learnt to pick up on these signals all by himself.

“I can honestly say after years of teaching vet nursing and caring for a geriatric dog that is deaf he has taught me a lot and shown me that you can teach an old dog new tricks.”

Barbara wanted to adopt a ‘golden oldie’ to be a companion for her labrador Rosie and herself. It took about two months but now the dogs are thick as thieves.

“He has no jaw problems now and has such a healthy appetite that sometimes he steals Rosie’s food. He just doesn’t look like a dog who has been through all that.” She continued. “He’s definitely brought some joy into our lives and I hope we’ve brought some joy into his.”

Alan Davies said: "The Dog Rescuers goes behind the scenes to see the RSPCA at work rescuing dogs from neglect and abuse.

"It's sad to see dogs suffering but always a joy when they are nursed back to health and find loving new homes."

Ollie is one of 8,009 dogs rescued by the RSPCA last year - that’s nearly one every hour.

To help the RSPCA continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals in desperate need of care please visit: www.rspca.org.uk/give or text LOVE to 87023 to give £3 (Text costs £3 + one standard network rate message).