IT'S A HARD MUTT LIFE

WADDLING towards me with a slight limp and a wagging tail, it's inconceivable that a dog as adorable as 10-yearold Barney has spent more time waiting for a forever home than any other dog in the whole of the UK.

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Terminally lonely, the crossbreed, or "marvellous mix" as his handlers like to call him, has been waiting for his perfect match for over eight years; that's 3,000 days with no sofa to curl up on next to a human companion.

And sadly, Barney's far from the only pooch to join the lonely hearts club - with animal charities reporting an "unprecedented" rehoming crisis across the UK.

The RSPCA alone currently has 1,646 dogs in its care the highest number on record and more than double its July 2020 figure. The charity recently urged people in South-East England to consider adopting a big dog as part of their annual Adoptober rehoming campaign, as they wait seven times longer than small ones to find their forever home.

Elsewhere, London's Battersea Dogs and Cats Home directly cared for 2,766 dogs and 2,454 cats at its three centres last year.

Barney lives at the Dogs Trust Merseyside, where his handler, Freya McVey, 30, an adoption adviser, takes good care of him. The site has around 40 staff members in all to take care of the 83 dogs.

Clare Rooney, 51, who is part of the team, says Barney came to them when he was six months old.