Spicer by name, sweetheart by nature - Adorable West Midlands pooch finds a home after 730 days in RSPCA care
After 730 days in RSPCA care 'sweet' Spicer has finally found a fur-ever family to call her own.
The tan-coloured crossbreed came into RSPCA care in April 2023 after being removed from a house in the West Midlands by police due to welfare concerns.
Such was the neglect Spicer suffered her weight at the time was just 23 kilo grams, and she was so skinny her body condition score was just three out of nine at the time. The score for a dog to be considered 'healthy' is five.
Spicer was taken to be checked over by vets at the RSPCA’s Birmingham Animal Hospital, who noted that despite her visible ribs and spine she was a very 'bright and bouncy' pooch.
She was then cleared to be moved to RSPCA Chesterfield & North Derbyshire in April 2024 - where she remained until May this year.
Spicer was unable to be rehomed until she put on enough weight to become a healthy, thriving dog again, and due to a lengthy rehabilitation, after a year in kennels staff decided to look for a foster home for the seven year old.
But after offering to take Spicer in, her foster carer Sophie Burnside couldn't bear to part with her and ended up adopting the cute woofer.
Sophie said: “I’ve always believed that everything happens for a reason - and I truly think I was meant to get the call about Spicer. She needed a foster home and I was somehow the one who picked up the phone - and from that moment, everything changed.
“Spicer has come on leaps and bounds - sometimes quite literally. She tears around the garden like a bat out of hell, or prances like a majestic gazelle.
"She’s absolutely hilarious, full of quirks and what I can only describe as multiple, delightfully chaotic personalities.”
Now weighing a healthy 27kg, Spicer loves fuss, attention and back scratches - as well as a treat or three, and is happiest when playing with her toys or chasing a ball.
New owner Sophie added: “Underneath it all she’s gentle and incredibly sweet. She loves nothing more than a good game of tug-of-war or sprinting around like she owns the world. But my favourite time of day is after dinner, when we curl up on the sofa together, just the two of us, in our quiet little bubble.
“Spicer is quickly becoming my best friend. I feel so lucky that our paths crossed - I get to spend the rest of her life loving her fiercely and giving her the safe, happy life she’s always deserved.”
