Scotland's 'loneliest dog' finds forever home after spending half her life at Lanarkshire centre

Scotland’s loneliest dog has finally found her forever home after spending 767 days in the care of the Scottish SPCA.

Five-year-old Roxy has spent almost half of her life living in kennels at the SSPCA's Lanarkshire Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre.

The Staffordshire bull terrier was given up by her previous owner after a change in their life circumstances meant they could no longer look after her.

Initially Roxy found life at the rescue centre difficult but with the hard work and support of staff she gradually improved and learned to "love life again".

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Despite numerous appeals for a new home, Roxy continued to be overlooked by potential owners. That was until Gerrard Brown and his daughter Dawn visited the centre and saw Roxy’s picture on the wall.

Gerrard said: “We instantly fell in love with her face. The team managed to arrange a meeting that same day. She came out bouncing about and was an instant bundle of joy.

“The whole family went down again to meet her and we all took her for a walk. We arranged another couple of visits and then fostered her for two weeks.

“It all went well and we completed the paperwork for her to come home with us and be officially part of our family.

“She’s settled in well to our family environment. She’s very relaxed, and we’re focusing on training and getting her used to family-life. She’s been loving getting spoiled with new toys!”

Roxy has finally found her forever home but now the SSPCA are changing the way they work to ensure no animal has to spend that length of time in a kennel environment again.

Rehabilitation Operations Lead Rachael Maclean said: “Thankfully Roxy’s case is rare as we want to find animals their forever home as quickly as possible.

“Last year we saw a 25% increase in arrivals to our animal rescue and rehoming centres across Scotland, with 6,944 animals taken into our care in 2023.

“We also rehomed 3,881 animals to loving new homes, fostered 459 animals, and treated 5,163 wild animals.

“Our aims for 2024 are to enhance our adoption and fostering services with an expanded team.

“This means getting animals into the right homes faster and improving the experience for animals, fosterers and adopters.”

If you are interested in rehoming an animal please visit here.

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