A mum has been reunited with the husky she was forced to give up after discovering her new loving owners had 'neglected her for years, leaving her emaciated and blind before cruelly dumping her'.
Shireen Rodgers bought Siberian husky Ely from a breeder as a two-year-old dog in 2016 and she was a beloved pet to her and her then three-year-old daughter for the next two years.
But after numerous complaints from the business below her flat about Ely's howling while she was out, the 29-year-old made the heartbreaking decision to rehome her with someone who would be home more.
Four years later, on January 14, she received a call out of blue from a vet in Blackpool saying an emaciated husky with her contact details on the microchip had been brought to them by a member of the public.
Sign up to our TeamDogs newsletter for your weekly dose of dog news, pictures and stories.
The farm worker, who now has a home set in open fields, picked the ailing pooch up within the hour and took her back in, confessing she'd never stopped thinking about her.
The mum-of-two now vows to nurse eight-year-old Ely back to health and allow her to enjoy the rest of her life.
She's even hoping to fundraise for surgery to remove the cataracts in Ely's eyes in the hope she'll be able to regain her sight.
Shireen, from Garstang, Lancashire, said: "I had a missed phone call from a vet in Blackpool and they said 'we've got a dog here that's microchipped to you' and it was Ely.
"I explained the situation and the vet said 'she's rather underweight and unwell' so I said I'd come and pick her up.
"They explained that she wasn't in good health and that she was blind, which was heart breaking because she's not an old dog. She shouldn't be blind.
"They brought her in and it was awful - she looked like she should be dead. She was literally just bone with a fur coat stretched over the top.
"The only thing that would've been recognisable would've been her blue eyes and they were gone as well.
"When they brought her in she obviously couldn't see me but she came straight over and was smelling me for a moment and then her tail started wagging like hell.
"I'd never stopped thinking about her and it was an opportunity for me to see again even if it was only to take her back to the owners, but when I saw her I decided she was coming home with me."
The mum was studying at college at the time she initially owned Ely, meaning she was out of the house for most of the day and the dog would howl, pining for her and her daughter to come home.
Complaints from the barber shop underneath her flat about the noise pushed her to advertise Ely on a pet rehoming website, believing she was doing what was best for her.
The animal lover said a family got in touch wanting to take Ely on.
They even allowed Shireen to go round to their house to meet them and check where she would be staying before allowing them to have her.
Shireen said: "I thought it would be in her best interest to rehome her to somebody who was going to be at home with her all day.
"I wanted to make sure she was going somewhere nice and to someone with children because she's always been quite drawn to kids.
"The family had children and the lady said she would be at home all day with the dog, which was perfect for Ely.
"I was mortified to have to give her up. I was crying when I went to look at the house and I was crying when I had to hand her over.
"I asked them to keep in touch but they never did and then I felt like I was overstepping so I decided I needed to let go."
But four years later a member of the public found the emaciated husky roaming the promenade near Blackpool Pleasure Beach alone.
Concerned, they took her to a vet, leading her back to Shireen's care once they scanned the microchip.
Further vet appointments confirmed that Ely had developed severe diabetes that had been left untreated and caused the cataracts in her eyes, leaving Shireen furious that she trusted the family to care for her.
The pooch will now be given two injections of insulin a day for the rest of her life to manage the condition as she gradually puts weight back on and regains her strength.
Shireen said: "I'm assuming because of the distance of their house from [where she was found] and the condition she's in that they dumped her - there's no way she could've made it all the way there on foot.
"From the photos I have of her from four years ago, a dog doesn't age and develop health conditions like that out of nowhere, they've just ignored it.
"I feel guilty for putting her in that situation. I thought I was being cruel to her because she was at home howling but she would've been better off if I just ignored the complaints and kept her with me.
"I'll never forgive myself, I just wish I never rehomed her in the first place but we'll definitely make up for it now.
"It's brilliant having her back. My little lass cried her eyes out when I said we were going to pick her up from the vets and she was over the moon to have her back."
The mum and her children, Savannah Rodgers, now eight, and one-year-old Jacon Rodgers, are now looking forward to nursing Ely back to health and enjoying the rest of her life together.
Ely even has a canine pal - Bailey the labrador - who is helping to guide her around the house and settle back in.
Shireen is also fundraising £6,000 for surgery to remove the cataracts in Ely's eyes to allow her to get back to her old self as much as possible.
Shireen said: "We were sad to see her in that condition but we're over the sadness now and just excited to get her back on track and make some more memories with her.
"She's perked up a lot since starting the insulin injections and she's even been trying to give me a little howl bless her, she's definitely getting back to herself.
"Being able to afford the cataract surgery would mean that we're fortunate enough that we can at least reverse some of the physical damage.
"She'd be able to finally see us again, run again, play with other dogs again and get her confidence back."
You can donate to Shireen's GoFundMe page.
Do you have a story to sell? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.
