Skip to content

Hope for 'thinnest' dog Peanut after RSPCA rescue

Harriet Heywood
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
Emma Baugh/BBC A lurcher is sitting in a kennel at a rescue centre. She has beige fur and a darker brown face and ears. She is wearing a red collar and is sitting on a fluffy blanket surrounded by toysEmma Baugh/BBC
Peanut's physical stature, behaviour and mannerisms have all improved from when she was first brought in on New Years Day

A lurcher described as the "thinnest" dog rescued by RSPCA staff has been reserved - with hopes of a "perfect match" home.

Three-year-old Peanut was found close to death and abandoned on a country lane in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, on New Year's Day, weighing 12kg (26.5lb) - half her normal weight.

Since her story was revealed, staff who nursed her back to health at the RSPCA centre at Block Fen, Cambridgeshire, said they had been "inundated" with calls from people wanting to help or adopt her.

Tiffany Saunders, kennel supervisor, had said Peanut had gone from "a really scared, shut-down dog to a really cheeky, loving and friendly girl".

RSPCA Peanut the lurcher lying on a fluffy blanket which has red, blue, yellow, pink, purple and green circular spots on it. She is very thin. Her bones cannot be seen as she is wearing a pink jumper over the middle of her body. She has a purple wrap around her back leg and is curled up inside a metal crate.RSPCA
Peanut's weight gain had been a slow process as she was incredibly emaciated, so food was introduced to her food in small regular meals

Kennel supervisors described how she first presented in a starved state with pressure sores on her legs.

They said it was likely the lurcher would have died if she had spent one more cold night outside.

Since then, her physical stature, behaviour and mannerisms had noticeably changed.

Peanut's journey had been followed by hundreds on social media as the RSPCA shared regular updates on her condition.

In their latest post a spokesperson said: "It's early days but we have a good feeling that we may have finally found her perfect match.

"We will know more next week once we have done some meets and greets and we will of course keep you all posted on how things go."

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

More on this story
Related internet links