A German Shepherd cross breed dubbed "Britain’s most unwanted dog" has finally found his forever home after spending five years being overlooked in kennels.
Eight-year-old Mason was rejected thousands of times by potential new owners after being abandoned in 2019. He was found extremely thin and distrustful before being rescued and given a new lease of life at Hilbrae Rescue Kennels, near Telford, Shrops. But since then, lonely Mason has spent more than half of his life in kennels trying to find a loving new home. An appeal to find him a new owner was relaunched at the end of January and even caught the eye of Geordie Shore TV star Vicky Pattison.
She joined the campaign in early February, sharing Mason’s story to her 5.5 million followers on Instagram. And following the coverage, the rescue kennels were inundated with calls from around the country and even abroad in Sweden.
Hilbrae has now revealed Mason has finally found the loving new home he desperately needed after spending more than 1,800 days in kennels. In a Facebook post, they said: “Our special boy Mason left for a new home after far too long here.
“His new owner has taken the trouble to visit and get to know him and hopefully they will have a happy life together.”
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Cheryl Gibson runs Shropshire Canine pet care services and works to raise the profile of dogs in rescue centres. She launched the appeal to find Mason his forever home after dubbing him one of Britain’s most unwanted dogs.
Cheryl said: “Mason is a very special boy and him bagging himself a loving home is so amazing. I’m ecstatic, as are all the volunteers and those who walked him throughout the years and know what a good boy he is.
“This just proves that no matter how long a dog has been in kennels, or how many times they’re rejected, we should never give up on them and their happy ending. We hope Mason settles in quickly and has the best life.”
Marty Burrell, who has run the kennels for 50 years, previously said she thought Mason was overlooked because of his large size.
She said: “He is a big dog but he is really affectionate when he learns to trust somebody. He just keeps being overlooked and now he’s eight. We find bigger dogs do get overlooked more but not to this extent. Smaller dogs can be rehomed in a week. It may be due to the cost of living or people having smaller houses - but poor Mason is still here.
“He has a really loving nature. He is a big dog, but not a dangerous dog. He was very wary and distrustful at first but we have worked to gain his trust.”