Making Every Day Count

Charlotte Mullarkey, 24, is making precious memories with her rescue pooch

- Fiona Kinloch And Katy-Rose Meaney

As I opened the kennel gate, a bundle of energy came bounding over, tail wagging and tongue hanging out. ‘We’ll take good care of you,’ I promised, ruffling her sandy fur.

It was November 2019, and Bumble, a four-year-old American Staffordshire terrier, had just arrived at the Blue Cross rehoming shelter in Tiverton, where I worked as an animal welfare assistant.

She’d recently been seized from her owner for reasons unrelated to her care. Now we were looking for a forever home for her. Excitable, affectionate and incredibly loyal, I was sure she’d soon be snapped up.

In the meantime, I’d volunteered to foster her. I lived with my boyfriend, and Bumble would make the perfect addition.

We quickly became inseparable. Every day, she came with me to work at the shelter, and she made me and my colleagues chuckle as she chased her tail around the office.

At lunchtime, we’d play ‘fetch’ on the grass, and, back home, she’d jump into bed with me for cuddles in the evenings.

‘I’ll be sad to see her go when she’s rehomed,’ I told my colleagues as people began showing interest in adopting her.

Only, in December, I noticed traces of blood in her urine and got her checked out.

‘Bumble has cancer in her kidney,’ the vet said after tests.