Happy ending for Marley thanks to work of Wirral RSPCA inspector to be featured on national TV

Anthony Joynes, who works across Merseyside to crackdown on animal cruelty, will star in next week’s episode of The Dog Rescuers.

The Channel 5 programme followed 350 inspectors for four months in a country-wide crusade to stop cruelty and neglect to man’s best friend.

With heart-wrenching rescues, heart-warming re-homings and amazing tales of dogs overcoming adversity, the 12 part series is sure to have you reaching for the tissue box.

The show – hosted by Alan Davies – has followed Anthony’s pursuits in the past, this time documenting his rescue of an agoraphobic springer spaniel called Marley.

After arriving at the Wirral home last September, Anthony interviewed Marley’s owner who said that due to her own health, she had been unable to look after the two-year-old pooch.

Anthony, who has already featured in this series of the Dog Rescuers several times, explained to her that the property smelled strongly of ammonia and the conditions were completely unsuitable for her or Marley to live in. He persuaded her to sign over Marley to the RSPCA. 

Once outside, Marley was terrified and Anthony had no choice but to carry him to his van.

The episode – which airs on Tuesday, June 16, shows how Anthony gains Marley’s trust and with his help, Marley embarks on the training he needs to get used to the outside world.

Anthony said: “The animals do know they are being rescued and that was a prime example for me as Marley became quite aggressive. But after half an hour, he responded to me. I formed a bond quite quickly with him.”

After being rescued, Marley was taken to the Wirral and Chester branch of the RSPCA, where he was looked after until he found a new home.

Marley has now found a new home. 

Marley's story has a happy ending, with him now living in the same road as Anthony.

“His new owner is one of my neighbours so I get to see him quite regularly and see how he’s doing.

“He was living in a squalid environment and he had no exercise so the muscles in his legs had worn away. It took quite a while for him to build his muscles up. He’s doing really well now.”

Recent episodes of the Dog Rescuers have followed other cases well documented in the Globe.

One was that of Birkenhead man Sean Cottrell, who was jailed for 14 months last August for beating his four-month-old puppy ‘Dexter’ so badly that it had to be put to sleep.

Cottrell hit the headlines again in January when he was jailed for a further 11 years after he was convicted of causing a catalogue of injuries to his six-week-old son.

Another episode told the story of three-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier and lurcher cross ‘Sam’ who chewed through a brick wall and door in search of freedom after being left to starve in squalid conditions for “at least four days”.

His owner, Woodchurch man Sean Lawton, was given a 12 week custodial sentence suspended for 12 months, and banned from owning or keeping animals for 10 years.

With more 1.3 million reports of cruelty and mistreatment of animals made to the RSPCA every year, the charity is under increasing pressure to safeguard our nation’s pets from the constant threat of abusive owners and unscrupulous breeders.

Anthony said: “One thing which is clear is that these animals could never be rescued or their abusers brought to justice without the general public who will not stand for animal cruelty and report it to us.

“Last year, 78 people were jailed for animal cruelty nationally, with 10 of those people being cases I dealt with on Merseyside.

“This is an opportunity for those people to not only see what we do, but also see what happens to people who are cruel to animals and also see some of the fantastic happy endings where animals rescued have recovered and been re-homed which is of course the ultimate aim in any situation.”

• The Dog Rescuers is on Channel 5 at 8pm on Tuesdays.
   
• If you would like to donate to the RSPCA, you can text HELP59 to 70099 to give £3.