Charity fundraises for poorly pooch who needed life changing surgery

ITV Border's Clare McNeill went to meet Thomas to see how he’s getting on after his surgery

Thomas the cockapoo came to Oak Tree Animals' Charity in Carlisle after his owner got ill and could no longer look after him.

The 9-month-old pup soon started to limp. 

After a visit to the vet, they decided that Thomas needed surgery that cost £900 per hip, so the charity set up a Just Giving page to raise the money. 

The charity hit the target amount for Thomas' surgery in just seven hours

Gina Anronacci, from Oak Tree Animals' Charity said: "We were contacted by a lady who had Thomas and due to ill health, she was struggling to care for him.

"She was absolutely heartbroken, but she knew it was the right decision for Thomas.

"So he came in for rehoming, and within the first week noticed he was limping a bit.

"We got him checked by the vets and we did a bit more investigation and that's when we got the X-rays done and it was found that he had hip dysplasia.

"Thomas had to get surgery, so we put an appeal out and did a fundraiser specifically to fund that surgery.

"We had an unbelievable response", she added.

"Within seven hours we hit the initial target and then the donations just kept on and so we ended up with over double, which is just unbelievable.

"He's adorable - he's very cute, he's young, it was just bad luck on his part, and I think that really spoke to people.

"People are very, very, generous.

"It's going to change his life, he's going to have a happy, fulfilled, great life where previously he would've been in quite a lot of pain."

Thomas has been settling in well with his new foster family who are volunteers at the charity Credit: ITV Border

Thomas had surgery a couple of weeks ago and is currently being fostered by a couple who volunteer at the sanctuary.

Graham Lewis is a vet at Paragon Vets in Dalston, the practice where Thomas had the surgery.

He said: "He's doing great after the surgery, he's walking well on the leg at the moment, and we're only a couple of weeks post surgery.

"Really happy with how he's going.

"He is still having physiotherapy and laser therapy to try and help with that recovery.

"Doing this is going to allow Thomas to have a life without pain.

"For a dog that must be chronically sore, he's such a happy little chap. "He's fantastic but we want to make sure he's able to exercise as much as a very young cockapoo would want to.

"So hopefully we can get him up and out doing things he wants to do in the Lake District with his fosterers who will hopefully become his adopters as well."

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