AN appeal has been launched to find a forever home for an illegally smuggled deaf puppy.

Percy, a six-month-old French Bulldog was bred in Slovakia and illegally transported into the UK.

He endured a 1,500 mile journey before being intercepted in Kent and taken into quarantine.

Dog’s Trust Merseyside provided care and support for the pup during his time in quarantine and he arrived at the Huyton rehoming centre just before Christmas.

He was adopted in January but following a change in his owner’s circumstances he is back at the rehoming centre.

Centre manager at Dogs Trust Merseyside Georgina Lowery said: “Percy is a very resilient and absolutely adorable pup who has had a terrible start to life, being bred in a horrendous environment purely for profit.

“These puppies don’t have appropriate vaccinations, are transported thousands of miles in terrible conditions, have false documents and have been taken away from their mums far too soon.

“Thankfully, Percy and his litter mates survived and all headed off to new homes in January. Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, Percy is with us again and we would love him to be back at the heart of a family as soon as possible.”

Playful Percy is looking for a home with children aged ten or over and could live with another dog.

Georgina added: “People can sometimes feel they wouldn’t be able to cope with a deaf dog but they can have a perfectly normal life and can be trained fairly easily, especially when they are as young as Percy as he’s very eager to learn new things.

“It’s worth remembering that dogs with perfect hearing actually find it easier to learn using hand signals and so being deaf shouldn’t be a disadvantage for Percy or his new owners. Percy has his whole life ahead of him and following his tough start he deserves to be at the centre of a wonderful family who will give him all the loves he deserves.”

If you think you could offer Percy his forever home, please call 0300 303 0292 or visit Dogs Trust Merseyside at Whiston Lane, Huyton, L36 6HP.