Sutton man with learning difficulties reunited with dog after community pulls together to get him back

A Sutton man has been reunited with his dog thanks to the help of his local community and Ashfield MP Lee Anderson.
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Tony Wood, who has learning difficulties and is on disability benefits, faced losing Staffordshire Bull Terrier Tank, who had bolted after a fox at Sutton Lawn last week. Tony couldn’t afford the release fees for Tank, who had been picked up an Ashfield District Council dog warden and taken to kennels and the animal faced being rehomed if the money wasn’t paid within 10 days.

Tony’s sister Cheryl Wood said Tank was her brother’s ‘only companion’, and he was distraught to not be able to afford the £130 the council were asking for Tank's return.

Lee Anderson MP collected Tank from the kennels this morning, October 27Lee Anderson MP collected Tank from the kennels this morning, October 27
Lee Anderson MP collected Tank from the kennels this morning, October 27
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But after the Ashfield community stepped in to help, Lee Anderson travelled to the kennels on Tuesday morning and collected Tank, before reuniting him with Tony.

However, the MP criticised Ashfield District Council’s handling of the situation.

He said: “After the Chad article I asked on my Facebook page if anyone had contact details for Tony, and I rang him.

"Any normal authority would have picked the dog up and put it on their social media page and would have got the dog back but the council went further than that by taking it to the rescue centre and then charged me £130 to get it back, and another £40 to Babbington Recue Centre. This was avoidable and it is incompetence of the highest order.

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“I shall be asking Ashfield District Council to give my £130 as a donation to the Babbington Dog Rescue Centre, and they should apologise to the owner as well.

"Residents have come forward and offered to reimburse me, which is nice, so I will probably get most of that money back but the point is that this man has learning difficulties, he lives alone, his dog is his life – it is his companion and he has been through unnecessary upset for over a week now when this could have been sorted.

"I want to say a big thanks to the people of Ashfield who came forward to offer to pay for it, it shows what a phenomenal community we live in.”

Cheryl added: “It is absolutely amazing. Tony is over the moon, it is absolutely fantastic, I am really pleased for him.”