Campaign to free Buttons the seadog, locked up after owner dies

A campaign has been launched to free an old seadog trapped in quarantine after his owner died on their yacht.

Loyal pet Buttons was left high-and-dry when his owner Colin Spiers, 71 from Llanddewi Velfrey, suddenly died after spending seven years sailing the high seas together.

Colin's wife Jane tried to bring the 17-year-old Jack Russell-Cairn terrier cross back to Britain but border chiefs locked-up the dog over fears he could have rabies.

Buttons - who is suffering from a heart murmur, cataracts, deafness and arthritis - has been held in a quarantine kennel and looks set to be there until the end of August.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has been asked to comment.