Abandoned dog finds home with Staffordshire vet nurse

Storm now has a "proper dog's life", said Bethany Poole

A dog has found a new home with the veterinary nurse who cared for her after she was abandoned.

German Shepherd cross Storm was left alone for a week in freezing temperatures in a Staffordshire yard with two other dogs and some ferrets.

She was found by the RSPCA and taken to Hope Veterinary Surgery in Stoke-on-Trent where she first met practice nurse Bethany Poole.

Ms Poole said she was "immediately taken by Storm's nature".

RSPCA inspectors Pam Bird and Dawn Burrell found the animals confined to a compound without food and bedding materials in their kennels, with their water bowls frozen in temperatures of -4C last December.

The emaciated body of a lurcher dog was frozen to the ground, while another severely underweight lurcher passed away later.

Two other dogs from the yard died

The charity believed Storm was able to survive by scavenging for food waste and catching rats to eat.

When she arrived at the vets she was extremely hungry and thirsty but Ms Poole said she was "taken by Storm's nature" before she was taken to private kennels.

"I kept thinking about her and then three months later when she came back to the practice to be spayed I recognised her instantly," she said.

"I knew then I wanted her to come home with me."

Storm recently went on a walking holiday with Ms Poole and her two other dogs

Insp Bird added: "It is so nice to hear how well she is doing now with her new owner and, after dealing with this case, it really cheered us up to hear of her progress."

A dead ferret was also found at the yard but another, who had lost the use of her back legs, has made a recovery at a ferret rescue centre in Chester.

A man received a 24-week prison sentence and was disqualified from keeping animals for life after the RSPCA prosecuted the case against him.