Britain's 'loneliest' dog finally gets a forever home

A dog that was dubbed the loneliest in Britain has finally found his forever home after spending more than 1,000 days at an animal shelter.

Greyhound cross Bud became known as Battersea Dogs & Cats Home's unluckiest dog but has now got his fairytale ending after appearing on Paul O'Grady's For the Love of Dogs show.

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Bud had been at the Old Windsor branch for nearly three years since he was six months old. It was the longest stay of a dog across all three branches, with the average stay around 36 days.

Paul O'Grady said it 'broke his heart' to think that Bud would spend a fourth Christmas alone.

But Ian Corns and his family, from the West Midlands, fell in love with Bud as soon as they saw him on the show.

Ian said: "When I saw Bud on the Battersea programme I couldn't stop looking at him. His character shone through and he reminded me so much of our old Collie-cross Rune.

"We called Battersea Old Windsor and they arranged for us to come and meet him.

"Now we've got Bud we can't believe he's been looking for a home for so long.

"He fits in so well already. He loves being involved in whatever the family is doing and we've all fallen in love with him."

And Paul himself was happy to hear the lovely news. He said: "I can't think of a better way to end the series than with knowing Bud has found a family. It broke my heart to think that he might spend a fourth Christmas without a home, so I'm over the moon to hear he'll be surrounded by love this festive season.

"Bud is such an amazing dog and he deserves to have a happy ending to his story."

Bud arrived at Battersea in November 2013, because his owners' circumstances changed and they were no longer able to take care of him. He spent years in kennels before going out on foster with two of the home's volunteers, to give him some stability while he waited for his forever-home.

Battersea Old Windsor Centre Manager Kaye Mughal said: "Since Bud arrived at Battersea the charity has rehomed over 5500 dogs, yet Bud was constantly being overlooked and we were at a loss to understand why.

"He's such a wonderful dog with a great personality. But as soon as Bud appeared in Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs the phone started ringing off the hook.

"When we spoke to Ian and his family everything seemed to click into place - they're a great match for him."

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