Hugo

Hugo was incredibly lucky to make it out of his previous situation. We first heard about him when we got a call from a woman working at the Mansfield Council office; she had a large Mastiff who needed help. When we asked where he was, she replied, “He’s here in our office!”

He was making his way round each member of staff, begging for cuddles and sniffing out the weakest link, someone who would abandon their work to give him attention. Eventually, he snuggled up on the floor to suckle on his blanket, which, at three years old, was a sorry sight to see. We were told that he had been removed from the home of an elderly woman who had been admitted to hospital. Hugo had been left all alone in a small, dirty crate without access to food or water for almost a week!

We later discovered that Hugo wasn’t even her dog, he belonged to her son, who had dropped him off one day and never made contact or returned for him. Sadly, no one else in the family was able to take him on. Thankfully, the housing officer who found him agreed to foster him for a few weeks while we searched for a permanent home. We were grateful to keep him out of kennels, as Hugo is a sensitive boy who likely would have been stressed in that environment. He kept his trusty blanket close whenever he needed to self-sooth.

It didn’t take long for Hugo’s new owner to fall in love with him. He had recently lost his previous dog and was longing for companionship. Hugo settled in immediately, we received plenty of photos from his new Dad, showing us how easily he had slotted right in.

Hugo now spends his days happily splashing in puddles on walks, sunbathing in the garden, cuddling up on the sofa, sticking his head out of the window on car rides, and pinching fresh strawberries from the window pot, something his owner tells us his last dog was often caught doing as well.

Hugo is such a lovable, sweet boy. All it took was someone taking a chance on him and refusing to look the other way, and Hugo has paid that love back tenfold.