A dog stolen from her family’s home in March was found and reunited with her owners just in time for Christmas.
Minnie the French Bulldog was sadly found abandoned at the side of a canal in Liverpool Road, Hapton, near Burnley – 170 miles away from her owner Staci Day’s home in Gloucester – by a woman walking her dog, and after noticing she had some severe leg injuries, the RSPCA was thus called to help Minnie, who needed life-saving surgery to amputate her leg.
The leg wound had been bandaged, not by a trained professional, and was severely infected.
Minnie had no feeling in her severely damaged limb, and a vet decided an emergency leg amputation was needed to save the pup and provide her with the best chance for a happy life.
She was then taken to the RSPCA’s Greater Manchester Animal Hospital where she had to have her leg amputated further, and it was here that a microchip was found which revealed her owner’s details and the fact she had been reported as missing in March.
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All was healed and Minnie was returned home where she immediately recognised her emotional owner and ran up to fuss her.
PA News / Staci Day
Owner Staci Day said: “We weren’t sure we would ever see her again when she went missing, so we are over the moon to have her back in time for Christmas.
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“We reported her missing but thought she may have been involved in a road accident as there is a busy road nearby. We thought we might not ever find her, especially as time went by.”
She said the family were “shocked” to get a call from the RSPCA to say Minnie had been found.
“It is so sad she had been neglected and has lost her leg but she doesn’t seem to be letting it bother her and she is back to her playful and loving self,” she added.
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The animal charity has launched an investigation following reports that a dog had been found abandoned with a severe leg injury at 11pm on 28th November.
PA News / Staci Day
Ryan King – Inspector at the RSPCA – has launched an investigation to find out who dumped Minnie, saying: “It was great to see such a happy ending after all Minnie has endured.
“She was so excited to see her family.
“As soon as I got her out of the van and started walking towards the house, she started pulling me as she knew where she was going. She rushed straight over to Staci with her tail wagging and jumping up at her.
“She looked so happy to be home – and was enjoying getting lots of fuss and love.
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“This really does highlight why microchipping your pet is so important and it is vitally important to tell the chip company yourself if any contact details change.”
Anyone who knows about the whereabouts of Minnie during this period is encouraged to contact the RSPCA appeal line.
You can do so on 0300 123 8018.
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Sir David Jason set for TV return in Only Fools and Horses documentary Christmas special
Danny Jones
In a surprise bit of festive news, the only and only Sir David Jason is returning for an Only Fools and Horses Christmas special this December. Lovely jubbly!
The best-loved and most-watched British comedy of all time will be back on our screens in documentary form this festive season, with Del Boy himself David Jason revisiting the iconic comedy character after 20 years he last played him on screen.
While the legendary sitcom was broadcast on BBC back in the day, the highly-anticipated Only Fools doc will be airing on Channel 5 right before Christmas as a special one-off programme.
Looking back on the show’s incredible run on UK screens over seven series and the several ‘Christmas Cracker’ specials, specifically, the latest Only Fools and Horses documentary will see Jason and a number of other guests appearing to chat about the legendary show.
The release date of the Only Fools special Christmas documentary is yet to be announced.
While it’s still unclear how many of the original cast will be appearing, Jason’s on-screen wife Tessa Peake-Jones (Raquel) is confirmed to be appearing along with other special guests including newscaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Bendiorm‘s Sherrie Hewson.
Sadly, a full theatrical reunion just isn’t on the cards following the deaths of Roger Lloyd Pack (Trigger), Kenneth MacDonald (Mike the Landlord) and Buster Merryfield (Uncle Albert) in the 30 years since the show ended its run.
Only Fools writer John Sullivan also sadly passed away aged 64 in 2011 and fellow co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst, a.k.a. Rodney Trotter, told Metro: “We can’t. John is no longer with us. John was the driving force of the show and we have also lost quite a few cast members now.
“I don’t think I could do it without them and I certainly couldn’t do it without John. At the risk of depressing everyone, I think the last two times I’ve seen David has been at funerals.”
Simply entitled, ‘The Story Of Only Fools And Horses At Christmas’, the 90-minute special is yet to have its broadcast date fully confirmed but you best keep your eyes peeled on the TV guide — we’ll let you know as soon we do.
Jason, 81, has only just recovered from hip surgery earlier this year, so it’ll be nice to see his familiar grin back on our screens.
Right, we’re off to binge a whole series on UK Gold.
Scott McTominay jokes he’s ‘fuming’ he didn’t score a hat-trick against Chelsea as he reflects on Man United’s mentality
Danny Jones
Scott McTominay has joked he’s “fuming” with himself after failing to score a hat-trick in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Wednesday nightand shed some light on the mentality around Old Trafford.
McTominay starred in the Red Devils’ win over Mauricio Pochettino’s side on a cold night at home, managing to bag a brace with a goal in the first and second half to get his squad over the line, but he himself said he could have had more.
Speaking to MUTV after the game, the 26-year-old said he and the squad knew they needed to drum up a reaction after the Newcastle disappointment, adding that contributing more goals is something he wants to keep working on and insisting that plenty of people back him to do so.
Confessing that his mum, dad and grandad have all been encouraging him to “get in the box” and that he just needs to “believe in [him]self and go for it”, the Scotsman did go on to quip he was “fuming” to not grab a third as he shook his head went on to shake and reveal a wry smile.
Scott McTominay was the match-winner against Chelsea.
Commentator and presenter Stewart Gardner went on to list McTominay’s impressive stats this season, having now scored 14 goals in his last 33 appearances for club and country. A seriously good rate from a midfielder typically entrusted to help link play and break things up in the middle of the park.
Now boasting half a dozen goals and an assist across all competitions so far this campaign, he sits as the club’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League with five finishes to his name — with only Bruno Fernandes having contributed more (five goals and five assists) — he’s genuinely become one of Man United’s main goal threats.
While he recently rubbished talk that he played as a striker regularly coming up through the youth academy, simply having been deployed for the odd game in reality, he has always had a shot on him and it isn’t the first time he’s bagged a winner or a big goal for the Reds. This wasn’t a bad one either:
Chatting with the pundits on Amazon Prime Sport, he reiterated that he could have had “one or two more” on another night and agreed that the performance against Newcastle in the previous fixture was “pretty abysmal”, holding his hands up to admit that it was “no way near good enough”.
Reflecting on the later chance he had to seal the hat-trick towards the end of the game, he said he simply needed to “calm down on the last one”.
As for the mentality to get the result during a difficult period where the club remained under a lot of scrutiny from pundits and fans alike, McTominay went on to say that the manager is responsible for the way they played and some “lighter training sessions to keep energy levels up” definitely helped.
Regardless, he was sure to not get ahead of himself and assured ten Hag‘s team were still taking things a game at a time. You can watch the full highlights from Manchester United vs Chelsea down below:
Emily Sergeant -
28th December 2020 
