Shireen Rodgers, from Garstang, Lancashire, bought Siberian husky Ely in 2016 but made the heartbreaking decision to rehome her two years later after complaints from the business below her flat about her pet howling when she was out.

Last month, Ms Rodgers received a call out of blue from a vet in Blackpool saying an emaciated dog with her contact details on the microchip had been brought to them by a member of the public.

The mum-of-two, who now lives in a new home, rushed to pick up Ely and has vowed to nurse the eight-year-old pooch back to health.

Ms Rodgers 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 heartbreaking 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.”

Ms Rodgers was studying at college when she initially owned Ely, meaning she was out of the house most of the day and her pet would pine for her.

She 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 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.”

Ms Rodgers now has another dog, Bailey the labrador, who is helping to guide Ely around the house.

Ely had developed severe diabetes that had been left untreated and caused the cataracts in her eyes.

She will now be given two injections of insulin a day for the rest of her life to manage the condition

Ms Rodgers is fundraising £6,000 for surgery to remove the cataracts in Ely’s eyes in the hope she’ll be able to regain her sight.

She 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.”

Ms Rodgers added: “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.”

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