Fernando is a four-year-old dog who lives on the Isle of Man with his mum, Mandy Griffin. He has a fantastic life now, but his life began very differently.
We first heard about this special boy four years ago when Starfish Dog Rescue took him and his siblings under their wing after the puppies were abandoned in a drainpipe in Spain.
Fernando as a puppy
Mandy shares his story with us for National Dog Adoption Day and tells us how life has changed since Fernando bounced into her life four years ago:
“One Friday evening, I was sitting scrolling through Facebook. It was gone 11pm and I was just about to go to bed. Suddenly, I saw this face on the dogsblog page, my heart actually skipped a beat and I just knew he was the one!
“Fernando and his sisters were found dumped in a drainpipe in Spain when they were about six weeks old – I can’t bear to think about what might have happened were they not found and rescued.
“I am a singing teacher and Fernando loves the extra strokes and attention he gets from my students. We enjoy runs along the beach most mornings and, as often as possible we head out to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Isle of Man on our walks.
“Fernando is so full of life – funny, gentle, loving, boisterous, cheeky, and so very precious. Since coming to live with me, four years ago this October, Fernando has completely changed my life – I am fitter, healthier, happier and have a best friend for life.
“I am so grateful to Gilly at Starfish Dog Rescue for entrusting him to my care, and to dogsblog.com for the incredible work done to help finding homes for these wonderful dogs. Adopting a dog has been the best decision I have ever made. I can’t imagine life without him now.”
Fernando and Mandy
Fernando is a National Dog Adoption Day ambassador. Mandy sums up why he’s happy to be involved in the campaign:
“National Dog Adoption Day gives such an important platform for awareness to be raised – not just of the stories of successful adoptions, but also for the many, many other dogs who deserve to be loved and who deserve to have a home. With Fernando, I feel that I have been the lucky one.”