Episode 4 Animal 24:7

Britain's animals are under threat.

All too often our wildlife and domestic pets

are the victims of cruelty, persecution and neglect.

Fighting to save them is a dedicated band of people trying to protect

and care for them right around the clock.

This is Animal 24/7.

Today on Animal 24/7:

A young dog's battle to stay alive.

It's definitely the worst I've seen. It makes me feel sick,

that somebody has purposely hurt this animal

who cannot defend himself.

Investigating what's making Sasha so sad.

I'm really concerned because she just didn't want to move

and her eyes were shutting and she was just getting tired.

-I was scared and I just panicked.

-And:

Protecting the monsters lurking in Scottish waters.

We have got all our lines in, they're baited and weighted.

We are in the perfect spot. But are we going to catch one?

First to the West Midlands and the story of a young dog left in a terrible condition.

The dog was brought into a local veterinary surgeon's as a stray.

So now, as well as making him better, the hunt is on

for the person responsible for leaving him at death's door.

At the Lockwood Animal Hospital in Willenhall,

staff have been fighting to save the life of a desperately ill dog.

The Staffordshire bull terrier was brought in by a member of the public

after being found collapsed under a bush.

He was so weak he could barely stand.

His emaciated body was covered in painful wounds and he was in agony.

No-one thought he had the strength to survive.

It was shocking.

I seriously considered putting him to sleep there and then

on humane grounds because he looked in such a poor state

that I didn't know if he actually could recover.

But this dog is a fighter.

A week later, he's has been given the appropriate name of Rocky.

Good boy.

His improvement is encouraging, but he's still severely underweight,

weak and subdued.

It is definitely the worst I've seen. There's no body fat on this dog.

The tops of his head here,

all the muscle has wasted away, which doesn't happen over a few days.

That's several weeks before that would start to deteriorate like that.

It makes me feel sick that somebody has purposely

hurt this animal who cannot defend himself,

and I really hope that the RSPCA can find that person

and that they can be prosecuted for this.

Rocky has been the victim of serious neglect.

The RSPCA has now been called in to find the person responsible.

Hi. Hello, Rocky!

Inspector Jayne Bashford is leading the investigation.

What a change!

He's doing ever so well.

I can't believe it. What have you been doing with him since I saw you?

The last time you saw him he still couldn't stand.

He was still attached to his drip. We have been gradually feeding him up.

Now he can take the food himself through a bowl.

It was really upsetting to see him on the day, as he was,

screaming, screaming in pain.

So, obviously now, I'm on the hunt for who owned him

and hopefully find who was responsible.

Jayne's investigation includes a full press and publicity campaign

appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

Thank you very much. Bye-bye.

Less than two weeks after Rocky was found, Jayne has a lead.

She now has the name and address of someone who allegedly owned Rocky.

The lady that took him to the vets...

found him in a small park,

which is actually on the same road as the intelligence

that has come forward as to the potential previous owner of him.

So it's all very...close

and it seems...suspicious.

There's no-one at home.

Jayne's not prepared to give up just yet.

I'm just looking over

the rear garden of the premises, because I just wanted to see if

there was any evidence of a dog ever having been here.

The neighbours have indicated that the person that lived here

did own a Staffordshire bull terrier at some time.

Pity I can't see any evidence of a dog here.

It's a bit frustrating, really.

She decides to call a woman who first found Rocky.

But after phoning HQ to get her details,

there's a shocking development.

OK, so can we just check that on previous calls as well?

It seems the woman who brought Rocky to the vets lives at this house.

These circumstances are particularly strange when you think about it.

It could be that the dog was belonging to this property

and had got into the condition he had...

..and the owners just decided to take into the vets

and create a story of being found under a bush collapsed.

Fingers crossed we might know now where Rocky's come from.

A week later, Jayne now has a warrant to search the house where she thinks Rocky lived.

She wants to know if the people here are responsible for his neglect, and she has the police as back-up.

-Hello.

-Now, it's time to get some answers.

Evidence has come to light that a dog may have been mistreated

from this address.

Later:

You know what the situation is with this dog,

and I'm telling you now, I will not leave any stone unturned.

And a painful procedure for Sasha the spaniel.

As soon as I attach it anywhere on her foot she's distressed,

so we will give her a sedation so that she doesn't remember her feet being played with.

This is Crinan on the west coast of Scotland.

It's an unusual port because sea-going vessels, like fishing boats

and yachts, can actually come up this canal and cross in land.

But our interest today lies out to sea, because in these

Hebridean waters, lies an animal that was thought to be extinct.

But beneath the waves, there still lurks this prehistoric monster.

It may look the picture of tranquillity, but in the cold,

dark depths, an epic battle for survival is underway.

Here, the endangered common skate,

one of the most majestic beasts of the sea, is making its last stand.

Today I've hooked up with conservationist Ian Burrett

-to find out more about the group of volunteers dedicated to helping them fight back. Hi.

-Hi, Tom.

-Good morning.

-Got the rods, got the reels, got the bait.

The waters we're heading towards were once teeming with skate.

But they've been hunted to near extinction.

They are now so rare they are classed as a critically endangered species.

When I think of a skate, I think of something kite-shaped.

Is that right? You're talking big here, big like my arm span.

A big kite shape. Yes.

The average fish will be around 180 lb and it might be 84 inches long.

So they're a big fish.

Tell me a bit about the story of skate in these waters.

-I gather they were thought to have completely disappeared.

-The full name is the common skate.

It should be called the uncommon skate because they're in waters

all the way around the UK, right round the Mediterranean.

The numbers have got to the stage where the IUCN declare them as critically endangered.

But they are now protected thanks to a lot of work by shark conservation groups.

We are working on the tagging to try to find more about the movements and the growth rates.

I gather they are part of the shark family, is that right?

Yes, they are. They like a squashed shark, a flattened shark.

-So technically I'll be shark fishing today?

-Yes indeed.

Well, at least I know what I am up against, a distant cousin of Jaws.

Our best chance of tagging one is in the deep, muddy waters

between Crinan and Jura.

And it soon becomes clear just how big a job I've taken on.

Wow! That is some hook.

Gives you an idea of the size of beast we might be after.

We are not alone on this mission.

Ian's son is skippering another boat.

We'll make what I call a kebab.

With the anchors down, it's time to get started.

The first baits tend to be very big baits with lots of mackerel, which is very, very oily fish.

The sharks are all attracted by the oil and blood.

So that is a mouthful for a skate?

-That's just a mince morsel.

-Just a nibble?

-Yes.

-Wow.

-And it's simply a matter now of dropping that to the bottom.

That one's ready to go.

-You can certainly see all the stuff in the water.

-You can see the slip coming off.

Skate are bottom feeders, and it takes a while for our delicacies to sink down.

Ian explains how to tell if anything's swallowed the bait.

So we've got that set. When the fish picks it up and runs with it now,

it will take the line off.

So that racheting noise, a lot of it, signals a fish, does it?

Yep, that's the fish alert.

Sometimes it happens straight away,

other times you've got to wait longer.

People, and yourself included, used to make money out of catching and

probably killing these creatures, or perhaps not these, but other sea angling fish, didn't you?

Now, it's all about conservation.

As stocks drop there comes a time when you've got to start doing something about it.

The problem with the sea is if it's out of sight, it's out of mind.

There's nothing being done to protect these creatures.

The likes of your common skate are actually on the same list as your pandas and your polar bears.

They really are an endangered species.

Although the government has now put on protection on the common skate,

there are still areas like this which need protecting from destructive forms of commercial fishing.

When you get it up, you try to put a tag on, but what's the point?

The problem is with the sharks, there's no other way

of assessing the numbers in an environmentally friendly way,

so the volunteer anglers are really the only way

we can actually assess stock populations.

But to tag one, you have to catch one.

And at last, something lurking down there makes its move.

I can see a bit of a quiver on the end of the rod.

-There's a fish on there.

-Is there?

Things start to move quickly.

Yes. That's a skate. If you'd just like to hold that for me for a minute. Don't do anything.

After a few tugs at the line,

I'm not sure I'm doing things quite right.

-Can't feel anything at the moment.

-No, it's settled.

I feel a lot of suspense, though!

-It looks like that was a false alarm.

-Really?

Ah.

INDISTINCT COMMENT

Another tale of the big one who got away.

Oh, look.

There be no bait.

It's had a free feed.

So the one that got away got away with its own dinner as well.

Yeah, that's it.

-But after a free starter thanks to us...

-How big is it?

'About sixty-ish...'

..it looks like something's gone to Ian's son for the main course.

Fish can only survive out of the water for a few minutes.

As they prepare to tag it, I get my first glimpse of a common skate.

Wow, look at that!

That was some fish! And that was only a 60-pounder, you say?

-160.

-A 160-pounder. Sorry.

We leave them to their work

and skate off back to our own stretch of sea.

That is a big fish.

These fish are now on the same endangered list as Siberian tigers and polar bears.

I really hope that's not the only one we get to see today.

Now I've seen a skate on the other boat, I really do hope we catch one.

We've got all our lines in, they're baited and weighted, and we're in the perfect spot.

But are we going to catch one?

-Coming up:

-Oh, no, that's popped out of there.

Such a big fish.

You've broken the reel here!

And could forensic samples hold the key to Rocky's troubled past?

They may look very small things, but they're vital in trying to find out what has happened to this dog.

In our pets, illness and accident don't respect office hours,

so animal medicine has to be a 24-hour business.

Vets are not required by their professional body to offer a round-the-clock service,

but there are a number of animal surgeries that remain open right the way through the night.

In West Yorkshire,

city life is starting to wind down as night falls.

As most residents head off to bed,

one veterinary team near Leeds is starting the long night shift.

Abbey House is the main out-of-hours practice for the whole of West Yorkshire.

That's over two million people and their pets.

Duty vet Theresa Soppitt is with her first emergency patient.

He probably will be a bit uncomfortable.

Toby's not been going to the toilet.

Owner Belinda is worried he might have a blocked bladder. That can be fatal.

-Is he on wet or dry food?

-He's mainly a dry-food cat.

His gut did feel a bit gassy, so I'd keep an eye on that in terms of whether he's going

to have a bit of follow-up of some diarrhoea and things.

Everything seemed OK in there otherwise and obviously not blocked.

Belinda has already lost two cats close together, so she's worried about Toby.

One had lymphoblastic leukaemia.

-Oh, right.

-And 16 weeks later, I lost Freddie...

Thankfully, the infection isn't serious.

A shot of anti-inflammatory should help him feel better soon.

So that'll help settle down the bladder wall, make him feel

more comfortable and hopefully take away some of the urgency to pee.

Is he on wet or dry food?

He's mainly a dry-food cat,

but a couple of times a week, he either has a coley fillet

or pollack fillet, you know?

We have steamed fish!

Pollack or coley, we have. He loves that.

But other than that, no, he doesn't eat wet cat food as such.

-Should I...?

-Does he not like it, or...?

He doesn't and he... Well, he can take it or leave it, really.

But should I introduce that...?

The more liquid they take on board, the more flushes through the bladder.

Cats' kidneys are exceptional at concentrating urine, so if

they're on dry food, then they don't tend to make a lot of pee.

Belinda is now no longer worried about her beloved pet cat.

She can now go back to bed confident that Toby will make a full recovery.

Let's get you home!

Thank you.

An hour later, and there's another anxious pet owner in the waiting room.

-Do you want to bring Sasha through?

-This is Sasha.

She's normally full of energy, but this evening, she can hardly move.

She's in pain and seems to have a high fever.

-Owner Peter is worried sick.

-I didn't know what to do, to be honest.

I just phoned my regular vet's, and on their answer machine it just told me to phone this number,

and I were just glad that somebody answered the phone!

I were really concerned, because she just didn't want to move,

and her eyes were shutting, and she were getting tired.

I were scared that she wasn't going to make it through the night, to be quite honest.

And I just panicked.

She's got like a swelling underneath her pad here.

Oh, that looks sore!

And that whole pad is swollen.

If you can compare it to the other feet,

you can see the sheer size difference of it.

Swelling and a high temperature are signs that an infection's taken hold.

-She does have a fever.

-Does she?

-And it's making Sasha feel very ill.

It's vital Theresa finds the cause.

-Right...

-Whether it's a grass seed or a scratch,

or something's just damaged the skin...

-Yeah.

-..and then it's reacted,

-and then, with the warm moisture on there, it's just got infected and really swollen up.

-Yeah.

So we need to trim all this hair off so you can actually see it and see if we can find anything in particular.

We just noticed she were just laying on our bed all the time.

My girlfriend just noticed her foot. She were licking her foot.

And then she just had a look at her foot,

and then I just got concerned.

Sasha now needs to be taken away for more tests.

But Peter's never been without his dog. It's going to be a long night.

Theresa needs to clip Sasha's coat back to expose the site of infection.

WHIRRING

That's a funny noise, isn't it?

Funny noise!

But Sasha is in pain...

SASHA YELPS

..and it's a real struggle to get close.

It's really nasty under here.

As soon as I touch the hair anywhere on her foot, she's in distress,

so we will give her a sedation so that

she doesn't remember her feet being played with.

It also makes it easier in the future

for doing trimming of her feet.

Good girl!

That smells bad.

Much easier.

It looks very painful.

It's got quite a bit of infection, and it's really, really swollen.

At last, the infected foot is exposed enough for a proper examination.

This does need antibiotics and pain-relief anti-inflammatory,

cos it's very painful and it will get worse.

But now that it's all been opened up to the air, it should be able to dry up much better.

She just has a bit of healing to do now.

Sasha's treatment is complete, but she's still very drowsy

and must spend the night at the surgery, where Theresa can keep an eye on her.

It's the next morning.

Sasha!

Peter's desperately hoping that Sasha is better.

Hello!

And she is!

Sasha is back to her bouncy self.

Have you ever been separated from her before?

No, we haven't!

We're all missing her.

And last night, she were drowsy and she weren't herself,

and now look at her, she's bouncing all over the place, so I'm happy.

Any problems, give us a ring.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Peter and Sasha leave very satisfied.

Well, I'll just take her home and have a good look at her paw myself now I'm out,

and just give her a good cuddle all the rest of the day, and hopefully she'll be jumping on us like normal.

And me son'll be over the moon to see her, as well.

For the night staff here, there's a day of rest before it all starts over again.

Still to come...

One, two, three and pull. Ohhh!

..the endangered skate finally takes the bait.

What an amazing creature.

Just phenomenal. It's like something from another world.

Earlier in the programme, we met Rocky the dog.

He was taken to the vet's by a woman who said she had found him collapsed under a bush.

Now RSPCA inspector Jayne Bashford is investigating

whether the woman is, in fact, the person responsible for Rocky's neglect.

Inside this house, inspector Jayne Bashford is interviewing the woman who took Rocky to the vet's.

She suspects this might be Rocky's real owner.

Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand that?

The woman confirms that she found a dog collapsed under a bench and took him to the vet's.

After more questions, she also admits she used to own Rocky,

who was then called Harvey, but she gave him away a year ago.

Where is he now?

Jayne begins a search of the property.

I do intend to have a look for evidence that...

And it doesn't take her long to find something which contradicts the woman's story.

Is this where he lived, was it?

How long's this carpet been down?

A couple of months? And Harvey's not been here for over a year?

The carpet is covered in numerous dog hairs that match Rocky's hair colour.

You've just told me this carpet's only been down two month, so why is his hair everywhere?

Jayne takes samples as evidence.

You know what the situation is with this dog, and I'm telling you now, I will not leave any stone unturned.

If you know something about this dog, I urge you, I really urge you, to tell me the truth.

Jayne wants to investigate further.

The woman is taken to the police station, where Jayne can continue her questioning.

While she's acknowledging the existence of a dog

called Harvey, she's essentially denying any knowledge of him

within the last 12 months or so,

and a search of the floor of the annexe area at the rear of the kitchen of the property

has revealed quite a considerable amount of old, compacted dog faeces

and a blanket of very distinctive white dog hairs.

If we can establish a link between this hair to Rocky,

then the chain of evidence is looking very good.

They may look very small things, but they're vital in trying to find out what has happened to this dog.

At the police station, the woman changes her story.

She tells Jayne Rocky's hairs could be found on her carpet

because she took him into her house before taking him to the vet's.

Jayne's going to need more concrete evidence.

Four weeks have passed since Rocky first came to the vet's.

Jayne is back to check on his progress.

Is this the same dog?!

Are you the same dog?

-Good boy!

-The change in Rocky is incredible.

A few weeks ago, he was skinny and subdued.

Now he's piled on the weight and has bags of energy.

When the call initially came through to ourselves from Gemma and the staff here,

he was at death's door, literally, with no exaggeration.

And he was...

It's just one of those images that will last in my mind for years to come,

is to have seen this dog emaciated, collapsed and screaming.

It was just awful, and I just think

what a tribute to the staff, you know?

With good work and good treatment and some love,

you know, the results speak for themselves, don't they?

It's just absolutely...

I'm absolutely delighted.

Going to miss you, aren't we?

He's made such good progress, Rocky is now ready for the next stage of his journey.

Everyone who comes into contact with him is falling in love with him.

Bye, then.

This is Birmingham's Animal Centre.

Staff here will be responsible for finding Rocky a new home.

The re-homing and assessment process is really the final, the final hurdle that Rocky needs to pass.

And we've come so far, I just hope now that he will pass his assessments,

and that will give him the green light then to be re-homed.

But before Rocky can leave, he'll have to undergo a series of personality tests,

to make sure he's a suitable for re-homing.

Night, darling.

After all he's been through, everyone is just hoping he'll pass.

-Later...

-We can already tell, he's a very, very affectionate dog.

But he might be a bit boisterous for people with very young children.

Scotland is well known for its creatures of the deep, but it's not just the Loch Ness monster

which is famed for its vanishing act.

All along its rugged coastline, whole populations of skate - a fish that's a member of the shark family

- have gone into alarming decline.

For three hours now, I've been trying to hook the endangered common skate.

But so far, things are not going well.

The conservationists want to catch and tag the fish to gather statistics -

to help learn more about the species' decline.

We've just put a smaller hook and bait in, in order to catch maybe a dogfish or a baby skate.

And then, our luck changes - Ian gets a positive bite.

This feels like a big fish.

Ian lets me take control.

If you get a few turns, mate, as quick as you can, we've got to set the hook.

And lift with the rod...

-Got some weight there?

-Yeah, it's skidding.

Skate can weigh up to 200lb, and live till they're 50.

He's pulling that line.

This one certainly feels like a brute.

Bend your knees a little bit. That's it...

-It can take an hour to haul them up.

-You're in for a marathon now, Tom.

I settle in for a battle of wits.

It's a matter of waiting... You can see the red tip moving.

As I continue my epic contest, Ian took to smaller but equally impressive species of shark.

That is a very rare fish, actually.

-What have you got there?

-That...is a very rare fish.

That is a black-mouthed dogfish, but they are rare fish.

-Fully-grown, that one?

-Yes, that's about as big as they get.

The dogfish is quickly returned to the sea.

You can get a few turns on that.

And Ian returns to help me with what feels like a whale, let alone a skate.

I can really feel the bulk of this.

That's the fish making a dive.

But just as I feel I'm getting close, there's a snag.

Oh, no, that's popped out of there.

The reel has seized up.

We have to do a running repair.

With the huge fish still on the line, Ian needs to act quickly.

Such a big fish.

-You've broken the reel.

-You've broken the real, yeah!

He must cut the line and attach it to another rod and reel.

It's not going to be easy, but we just have to hope after all this is over that the fish is still on.

With the knot tied, now the pressure's back on me.

Just wind, wind, wind.

Still there, got some weight?

Now we have to hope the knot holds.

I'm just getting into a bit of a rhythm of this here.

It's undoubtedly exciting and challenging,

and what's really brilliant is to be able to do this,

but knowing the fish is not going to be damaged - in fact, it's going to benefit the population here.

I don't think it'll be long now.

Finally, after an hour, the distinctive shape of a skate begins to emerge.

Oh, it's a beauty. It's a monster fish.

It's a belter.

Haven't quite caught a glimpse yet. Woah!

It's huge!

Absolutely massive.

We now need to measure and tag this vast skate, and we need to work fast.

Does that hurt them at all, Ian?

No, this is... It looks cruel, it's actually cartilage.

Stand on the edge there and pull up, and lift the fish in.

One, two, three, and pull!

Oh!

Look at that!

And that is a common skate.

What an amazing creature.

It's phenomenal - it's like something from another world.

It's time to quickly take the vital statistics.

So, 63 inches, and then we need to measure the...

Round the tail.

-Yep.

-It's amazingly placid when it's down here.

Yes, yeah.

I can't believe it's so calm.

-83.

-And is it tagged?

-We're going to tag it now.

-Brilliant.

We're doing something useful, tagging this one.

The tag has a unique number, which records

each fish's details, and can track what kind of distance they travel.

-Are you ready...?

-Our skate must be back in the water within minutes.

Now you can feel the full weight...

So, formalities completed, we ease it carefully into the sea.

-Like that?

-Yeah. Are you ready to go?

-Yeah.

With a few graceful strokes of its wings, it quickly vanishes.

-It's great to think that we've given them a better chance by putting that little tag in them.

-Yes.

How old do you think that fish is, roughly?

Between 50 and 60 years old.

-Really?

-The bigger ones are 70 years old, so it's an old lady.

Wow! What an experience, what I've seen in these waters. Amazing.

And after that excitement, it's not long before we're in action again.

Wow, that's a whopper.

'There's a cry of another skate from Ian's son's boat.'

One, two, three...

And this one proves the work Ian and his colleagues are doing is having an effect.

That's the second time we've caught it.

We first tagged it in spring last year.

So that just shows they stay in the local area,

and they survive the tagging quite comfortably, it doesn't harm them.

So what were the dimensions, Matthew?

-78.

-78.

This tagging will help build

a complete picture of the health of Scotland's skate population.

It will allow conservationists to protect this remarkable creature's future.

It's been a fascinating day out, and the really brilliant thing is, it reveals what we never see -

and that's the problem for so many of these species -

a lot of them are being wiped out beneath the waves without us even knowing.

Ian's principle object is to make people aware, make people know, and that way, we care.

Earlier, we saw Rocky, the Staffordshire bull terrier.

He'd been the victim of horrendous neglect.

He'd been starved, and as a result, had lost much of his spirit and energy.

Despite a thorough investigation, RSPCA Inspector Jayne Bashford's still no closer to finding out

who owned Rocky, and who was responsible for his condition.

But there is some good news.

Barnes Hill Animal Home in Birmingham.

It's been six weeks since Rocky was first brought to the vet.

Good boy.

He's made a full recovery, and his character has changed beyond recognition.

Wait.

-Good boy, come on.

-Once timid, he's now full of life.

This is Rocky's fifth day assessment.

When a dog's been in kennels with us for five days, we give him that time to settle, and then on his fifth day

we bring him out, we spend some time with him, fussing him, checking what he's like

when he's being groomed. And we can already tell, he's a very, very affectionate dog.

But he might be a bit boisterous for people with very young children.

He's also inclined to mouth a bit. This is always to be discouraged, because it can turn

into something a little bit harder and a little bit more dangerous.

It's got nothing to do with aggression. It's just sometimes the way a dog communicates,

but we don't want to encourage it, because if he does it to the wrong person, and pinches a bit hard,

it's distressing for people, but it can be a death sentence to a dog, so we discourage mouthing.

Now, Linda Ward has to decide whether this lively dog is ready to be found a new home.

Rocky! What's this? Rocky! Rocky! What's this?

-Round one - the obedience test.

-Sit.

Will you work for me? Sit down. No.

Sit. Wait.

Wait.

Oh, what a good boy!

Full marks for that one!

Rocky proves he also has a calm side to his personality.

Oh, good boy. Come on.

So, it's on to round two - possibly the hardest test of all...

Good boy.

The cat test.

Let's walk down and see where the cats are. Any cats? What do we think about cats?

At first, he doesn't seem too bothered.

But then...

What's this?

When the cat reacts, the dog reacts back, which is not good.

We don't want cats and dogs chasing around the house.

So it's clear Rocky can't live with a cat.

You are getting far too excited! Come on.

Come here. Come on, baby.

So now, the final round...

Good boy. Rocky, come.

The other thing I'm testing for is recall - will he come back when I want him on a lead?

Because there's nothing worse than taking a dog to the park and the dog disappears into the middle distance.

So... Rocky, come on, I'm going, I'm going without you. I am. Oh, got you, yes I did, I got you!

The tests are over - it's time for Linda's verdict.

What's Rocky like, then? What family could Rocky go to?

He could go to a family not with very young children,

because of his slight mouthing problem and his bouncy habit.

But children over five or eight I would think he'd be perfectly happy with, and he'd probably enjoy

their energy level as well.

He's not going to be suitable for a very quiet family,

someone who just wants to take him down to the shops and back.

He's going to need a lot more exercise than that.

He does need a bit more training, but I would say your average family home

would suit Rocky down to the ground.

That's better. Come on.

So, after an exhausting afternoon for both Rocky and Linda, it's back to the kennels,

where Rocky will now wait to see if anyone decides to take him home.

Two months later, and Rocky is enjoying life with a new family.

Anne Marie Stewart and her daughter, Chloe, were originally looking for a puppy.

But Rocky's friendly face simply knocked them out.

We took an instant liking to him, he was lovely.

He was so energetic and bouncy, but really gentle as well with it.

He still looks like a puppy, I think.

He's lovely.

And he's become a new best friend for Chloe.

As I've seen her build with him as well before we brought him home,

that was it, yeah, he's definitely coming home with us.

But, yeah, you can see her, she's fantastic with him, and he's great with her.

You can see, he just slotted in, like he was meant to be here anyway.

He's been absolutely no problems at all.

I don't know, it's like I've had him from day one, since he was born.

When Rocky was found, he was at death's door.

But after fighting back, he's made an amazing recovery.

Now, with Anne Marie

and Chloe in his corner, he's part of a championship team.

We've given him a good home, but he's also bringing us a lot of joy.

It's absolutely great.

Jayne Bashford continued her investigations, but despite a public appeal,

couldn't find enough information to prove who was responsible for Rocky's condition.

If you think you know of a case of wildlife crime, or a creature that needs immediate protection,

remember, there are dedicated professionals out there who will answer your call

right around the clock.

They are the people we meet on Animal 24/7.

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