by Hayley Robinson

Now here's a ‘tail’ with a happy ending.

A Staffordshire bull terrier badly injured after reportedly being thrown from a moving car now has a new home.

The animal was found by a passer-by, dumped in Murston on January 16, with a severe wound around its neck believed to have been caused by being tied up for a long time, or a collar which was too tight.

The mutt was handed over to Swale council before being taken for treatment by a vet, where staff named it Brucie.

It was then moved to kennels in Surrey before being adopted by Scott Barber, 30, and his wife Linda, 29.

The dad-of-two, who lives in Poole, Dorset, said: “We lost our family staffie Alfie at the beginning of February – he was 10 and died of old age – and we decided we wanted another.

“He was also a rescue dog and we decided we wanted to do the same again. We found [Brucie] on a website called Rescue Remedies which had pictures of dogs that needed rehoming.

“He caught our eye before we even read about the car incident so we made some inquiries with the kennel which had named him Gareth – I’ve no idea why they called him that.

“They got in touch with us on February 15. They were honest about what had happened to him but it didn’t deter us. We collected him the following day and took him home.

“We’ve called him Brucie again. He is such a lovely character. It was such a sad story and considering what he’s been through he’s doing fine.

"He’s a very happy young dog. He’s doing well and he gets on with our two children Lincoln, six, and Theodore who is 18-months-old.

“We live next to a heath and he loves running around there.

“There is some scarring around his neck but you wouldn’t even bat an eye lid at it unless you knew it was.”