A dog which was found starving in Cleator Moor is making friends and settling into a new loving home.

Spot, a two-year-old lurcher who was described as ‘skin and bones’ by an RSPCA inspector, has been renamed Ned and is living with three other dogs in Leicestershire.

His new owner, Jamie Vale, had found the stories about Ned's discovery online and was so shocked that he contacted the RSPCA to see how the dog was.

Mr Vale asked about re-homing the lurcher and kept emailing the RSPCA to check on his progress.

In April, the 52-year-old from near Melton Mowbray was told he could take Ned under his wing and he made the 500-mile round trip up to west Cumbria to collect him.

"He has been a lovely dog and fun from the word go," said Mr Vale. "The only thing was he was waking us up at 4 o'clock in the morning howling when he first came. You can tell that he was thinking about food a lot.

"But, by the second day I could let him off the lead. He is as good as gold."

Ned lives with three other dogs Billy, Barney and Widge. Mr Vale said: "He very sociable and gets on with the other dogs but you can tell that he has spent a lot of time alone."

When Ned arrived in the midlands, Mr Vale said his backbone was still "sticking out".

The RSPCA instructed Mr Vale to feed him three times a day which has now been reduced to twice a day.

He added: "He is still a bit thin but not remarkably thin. I feed him really good quality food twice a day and he is looking quite muscly."


Marie Staniforth Last week, West Cumbria magistrates gave Marie Elizabeth Staniforth an 126-day sentence and banned her for life from keeping an animal after she was found guilty of neglecting Ned in a two-day trial.

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Mr Vale said he was pleased with the sentencing last week and said the punishment sends a strong message.

"You just don't know what goes through people's minds sometimes," he said. "There is the RSPCA and dog shelters are out there so there is no excuse."

RSPCA inspector Martyn Fletcher said: "The sentence sends a strong signal and justice has been done. Owning a pet comes with a responsibility and if somebody disregards that responsibility then there are consequences.

"We are also glad that a disqualification order was issued, this is something that the RSPCA pushes for because it stops it happening again.

"We would like to thank the readers of the News & Star for their support and all the people who came forward with evidence which made it possible to bring this case to court."