Puppy found in bed of family’s late dog left out for binmen

Gail Witchell and husband Reece were still grieving Ollie, their dog of 15 years, when Dilly the tiny dachshund puppy arrived on their doorstep.

The couple had put Ollie’s bed outside ready for the binmen before their ears were pricked by the faint whimpers of a puppy.

Out they went, to find Dilly curled up in the bed, having been abandoned by breeders.

“It just felt like it was meant to be, that’s genuinely how it feels,” said Gail.

“We were sitting at home when my husband says ‘I can hear a puppy crying’.

“We went outside and there she was."

Ollie had been put to sleep just six days before Dobby arrived on Gail and Reece's doorstep (Image: Gail Witchell)

Gail and Reece took in Dilly and wrapped her up in one of Ollie’s old blankets.

“She was in such a dreadful state.

“She looked just like Dobby from Harry Potter, so that’s what we called her. To us she is Dobby not Dilly.

“She was absolutely starving, she had just a few tiny bits of fur and you could see all her ribs.”

Gail was told by the RSPCA that she had to call the dog warden, who came to collect the puppy the next day, Tuesday, October 25.

Renamed Dilly, the puppy had mange, was worm bound and undernourished.

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She has since been handed over to a charity that has found her a foster home as she continues to receive veterinary care.

It will be months before Dilly can be rehomed and Gail and Reece, from Evesham, Worcestershire, were hoping to be her forever family, but it appears this will not be possible.

“We have been told they don’t rehome locally,” said Gail.

“We weren’t planning to ever get another dog but when she came into our lives we wanted to keep her.

“Why did she turn up on our doorstep? She came to us for a reason.

“The little thing made such an impact, we haven’t stopped thinking about her since.”

The dog warden renamed Dobby Dilly, and has said she cannot be rehomed locally (Image: Gail Witchell)

The dog warden for Worcestershire confirmed Dilly cannot be rehomed locally.

It is because she has likely been abandoned by breeders who may target her once she has been rehomed after receiving thousands of pounds worth of veterinary care.

The dog warden urged people to stop going to illegal dog breeders and instead consider adopting.

“Illegal breeders are selling ill and undernourished puppies to people who, then faced with huge vet bills, possibly dump them," she said.