LOYAL DOG IS FOUND LAYING BY THE SIDE OF HER OWNER, 76, WHO HAD BEEN DEAD FOR MORE THAN A WEEK

Poppy, a miniature poodle, was just to 'skin and bone' when she was discovered
Christie Powell, 37, found neighbour Yolande after not seeing her for a week
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A loyal miniature poodle was found lovingly snuggled next to the body of her elderly owner who had been dead for more than a week in Wales.

Poppy and her owner were found by a neighbour who went to check on the 76-year-old at her home in West Cross, near Swansea, after not seeing her on her regular walks for several days.

Christie Powell, 37, peered through the letterbox and saw Yolande collapsed on the floor with her adorable pooch reduced to 'skin and bone' cuddling up.

The neighbour later learned Yolande had been dead for at least a week - during which her loyal eight-year-old pet had not left her side.

Poppy was found 'seriously malnourished and dehydrated' and unable to walk but has now been rehomed by Christie's sister following the tragedy.

Christie said: 'It was a week until we noticed we hadn't seen her in the window, and one of the other neighbours also commented, so we went around, and unfortunately it was too late.

'I'm a dog groomer so I groom Poppy. She always barks constantly and you'll hear her if you knock the door, but when I went round I couldn't hear her barking, and I thought: "Oh no, something's not right here".

'I knocked the door, knocked the door, but there was no answer, so I decided to shout through the letter box.

'As I opened the letter box I could see letters there which wasn't a great sign, and as I peered through the letter box I could actually see Yolande on the floor and Poppy laying on top of her.

'She was one of the loyalist dogs - when I used to groom her she had the worst separation anxiety, she'd cry and scream the whole time because she hated being away from her.

'My sister rang 999 and I went next door and grabbed a load of ham and dog biscuits and threw them through the letter box, and she was just eating, eating, eating and scratching at the door.

'Emergency services came and banged down the door, and our thought was to get to the dog, and she clung to my sister like you wouldn't believe, you couldn't get her out of her arms.

'Poppy was petrified. We got her in the house and syringed a load of fluid down her, as much as we possibly could, and a little bit of food, being careful not to overfeed her, because she was just skin and bone.

'Her eyes, it was so bad. They were completely glued together. I clipped her coat, I had to clip her eyes to get all the gunk out, and I put her in the bath. She was drinking the bath water - that's how dehydrated she was. I cwtched [cuddled] her up in a blanket and managed to get some food down her.'

Christie said Yolande was 'quite an elderly and fragile lady', adding: 'She moved from London five or six years ago and hasn't got a soul in the world, she has got nobody.

'We've tried to intervene a couple of times to help her as we were a bit concerned for her health, but it's been difficult recently as I've just had twins and we haven't been able to keep an eye on her as much as we would have wanted to.'

Christie's sister Kate Di Francesco had previously vowed never to have another dog but, due to Poppy's tragic circumstances, decided to adopt her.

She said: 'She fell in love with Poppy and said 'I'm taking her home. She's got nobody else and she's not going into kennels'.

'We went to Pets at Home, got her a load of bits in, everything she needed, and she went home with my sister that evening.

'She seemed a little bit brighter having had food and fluids, but later on she went a bit floppy and wasn't right, so Kate rushed her to the emergency vets and that's when we were told that she wouldn't have survived another night had we not found her, and it was touch and go as to whether she would survive that night.

'She is severely malnourished and dehydrated, and is literally skin and bone. I can put my fingers around her waist, that's how thin she was. My sister is a manager of a residential home, and Poppy will always have someone around.

'My sister will take her to work with her, she will be surrounded by elderly people and always have a lap to cwtch up on, and she's going to be absolutely spoiled rotten.

'Yolande, the only thing she would ever worry about was Poppy, it's one of the only things she had in the world. It feels like we're doing right by Yolande by looking after her.'

A South Wales Police spokesman said: 'Officers were called to a report of a sudden death at a property on Kenilworth Place, West Cross, Swansea at around 12pm on Sunday, March 24. A 76-year-old woman found deceased. The circumstances are not considered suspicious.'

Christie has launched a Just Giving page to help pay for Poppy's vets bills - including paying for the dog to have her right eye removed.

The fundraiser hit its £3,000 goal in just three days.

How does your pooch express its loyalty? Email [email protected]

2024-03-28T12:58:33Z dg43tfdfdgfd