Puppy left to die on roadside in Shildon is adopted by Darlington couple

A puppy dumped on the side of the road and left to die has found his forever home.Alfie was seriously injured, bleeding and suffering from a lethal canine virus, parvovirus, when he was discovered by a passerby in Shildon, County Durham.The one-year-old terrier was taken to a nearby vet by the RSPCA for emergency care before he was taken in by fosterers Vicky Ripley, 47, and her husband Bill, 67.Alfie wasn't expected to survive but he went from strength to strength and has now been adopted by the couple.Ms Ripley, of Darlington, County Durham, said: "I fell in love with him on sight and we decided to foster him. We were told that if he made it through the first night with us then it would be a miracle because he was so poorly."She added: "For the first two or three days, we even had to buy him little T-shirts because he couldn't keep his body temperature up.

"He had no energy but since then he has come on so much. He doubled his weight within a couple of weeks. We think he had been thrown out and abandoned because he had parvovirus and wasn't doing well."

The couple decided to adopt him permanently and changed his name to Alfie, in a nod to Mrs Ripley's favourite actor Tom Hardy who plays Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders.Mrs Ripley, who runs her own small business, added: "He is too cute and we instantly fell in love with him."We have seen an unbelievable change in him. He runs around and around and by 5pm he is so tired. He loves being with people and other dogs and he loves his food.She added: "He's so much fun to be around and we don't like being away from him. He's come on so much and we couldn't imagine life without him."