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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Nathan Aspinall urges PDPA to improve mental health support within the sport
Danny Jones
Local sports personality Nathan Aspinall has urged the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA) to provide better mental health support moving forward.
It’s not the first time ‘The Asp’ has called for more awareness and provision when it comes to player welfare and mental wellbeing, specifically, which remains a prevailing societal problem in general.
The Greater Manchester native has opened up about his own struggles many times in the past and has made a public plea for the PDPA to intervene and offer more help.
Speaking at the 2026 PDC World Darts Championships after his opening round victory, the 34-year-old instead chose to focus on more important issues than his strong start.
As you can see, Aspinall began by stating that “the PDPA now need to step in and help these guys because there’s a lot of guys suffering.”
Having long been an champion for male mental health, in particular – supporting the local Healthy Minds practices in his hometown of Stockport, for instance – he’s been one of the outspoken player on the subject for some time.
Noting that there are at least “two or three people” he refused to name, his message was simple: “There’s a lot of fantastic dart players in our sport, but it’ll be a shame to see so many of them go because of mental health”
The 2019 UK Open and 2023 World Matchplay winner has battled with multiple obstacles, including an ocular condition known as bilateral traumatic Brown’s syndrome, as well bursitis, which causes inflammation around key joints.
But it’s not necessarly injuries and the physical side of things that have been his biggest concern.
𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗨𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁
"I really do not care anymore.
"I do everything I can to be a good sportsman and you still get s**t. So you know what? I don't care. Say what you want." pic.twitter.com/mCBjQ6kvyj
One of the biggest and most recurring challenges for him has been ‘dartitis’, which many players within the discipline wrestle with the more their careers progress.
Aspinall has confessed to suffering almost chronic panic attacks due to the mental blocks (also commonly known as ‘the yips’) brought about by the intense pressure of playing on stage/live on TV.
With that in mind, it’s great to see him not only back on form and pulling impressive performance such as his ‘big fish’ finish on Friday night, but continuing to draw more attention to the underlying mental health crisis, especially among men. Well played, Nath.
You can watch his post-match interview in full down below.
Featured Images — Sandro Halank (via Wikimedia Commons)/Live Darts (screenshot via YouTube)
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Fans are preparing to pay tribute to Mani from The Stone Roses ahead of his funeral service
Danny Jones
Stone Roses fans and Greater Manchester locals alike are getting ready to pay their respects to the late, great, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, following his tragic passing last month.
As well as details surrounding his funeral being announced earlier this week, the iconic Manc musician’s cause of death has also finally been revealed.
While Hatton’s service featured a high-profile cortège which started all the way from his hometown of Hyde, past multiple landmarks and ending at the Etihad Stadium, those local to Mani’s family home on the edge of Stockport are also being welcomed to help send him off.
It's the funeral of Mani of the Stone Roses on the 22nd. He lived locally. This poster is asking people to line the route of his funeral cortege to "show that he truly was adored". pic.twitter.com/X0DYHl10Hp
He had been struggling with emphysema for some time; he was declared dead at his home in the suburb of Heaton Moor, and is said to have died peacefully in his sleep.
As you can see from the posters put in various places around the area, residents wishing to pay their own tributes to Mani before his private funeral service at Manchester Cathedral are encouraged to line the long street leading down from St Paul’s and Heaton Moor United Church as he heads towards the city.
Departing Parsonage Road from 10am on Monday, 22 December, before turning right onto Heaton Moor Rd, then Wellington and eventually on to the Cathedral, you can expect plenty of people to show up.
One of those people will be his former bandmate and another influential guitarist, John Squire, who is one of many famous musical names to have honoured him in their own way over the last few weeks.
Other members of The Stone Roses, as well as Primal Scream (who he joined in 1996), are expected to join the close family and friends at the service itself.
Nevertheless, we have no doubt that plenty will be observing the funeral in their own way.
So, for those of you also looking to honour him, you know what to do; and to quote the poster itself, “together we can show this local legend and his family that he was truly adored.”
Emily Sergeant -
28th December 2020 
