Manchester dog struggling to find a new home because of his facial scars

A dog rescued by Cheshire Police is struggling to find a home because of facial scars left from his previous owners.

Five-year-old Lurcher cross, Bronco was rescued in Greater Manchester and is thought to have been encouraged by his previous owners to fight with other animals, causing facial scars. The RSPCA believe potential future owners are put off by the scarring.

Kennel supervisor Jo Dodds said: “Since Bronco has been available for rehoming we’ve sadly had no applications for him, even though he’s a beautiful boy, inside and out.

“We fear people are being put off by his scars and the fact he has to wear a muzzle when he’s out and about.

“Bronco’s muzzle doesn’t prevent him from enjoying adventures and having fun on his walks but, sadly, there is a stigma around dogs who wear muzzles and we fear this may be another reason why people aren’t applying to adopt him.”

Bronco was rescued with six other dogs in a joint operation in Greater Manchester by the RSPCA and Cheshire Police. They were investigating a group of family members who were hunting wildlife with their dogs.

The charity’s Special Operations Unit worked with police in October 2020 to investigate social media posts suggesting the group used their dogs to hunt wildlife such as rabbits, foxes and badgers.

Warrants were executed, seven dogs were seized and phones were removed which revealed images and videos of sickening attacks on wildlife.

Bronco and the other dogs were removed from conditions described by the vet who attended the scene as ‘unhygienic’ and said they had scarring which were commonly encountered when a dog has been fighting with another animal.