A TEENAGER was praised for her kindness in handing in a "stray" dog to a Bolton animal shelter . . . until staff realised she had actually left behind the family pet!

The 16-year-old girl from Bolton used the ploy to be rid of the dog, because she wanted a puppy for Christmas!

And the family's other pet dog, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, has been "lost" for almost a month, presumed to have been sold by the teenager.

The cruel ploy was exposed at the Destitute Animal Shelter on Northolt Drive, Bolton, within hours of the "stray" being brought in, when the teenager's distressed father rang the charity to report the pet missing.

Neil Martin, of the Shelter, explained: "The man was extremely distressed. He had no idea what had happened.

Collar

"His daughter had removed the dog's collar and disc.

"It appears that the girl wants a puppy for Christmas but her father had told her 'no' because they already have two dogs."

The dog taken to the Shelter was a young, female mongrel, while the other family pet, still missing, is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier, called Butch.

But staff at the Shelter claim the shocking ploy is nothing new to them, and their resources are often stretched to the limit - particularly at Christmas time - by callous pet owners wanting to replace old dogs with puppies.

Neil said: "These people do not realise that if they keep filling our kennels up with these dogs, they are depriving places from animals who really need the care.

"It is a despicable thing to do. These people do not want a dog, they want something cute and cuddly. They just want a pet to cuddle during January.

"The dog in this latest case was only young, well looked after, and of a lovely nature. It was probably a present from last Christmas. It was almost as though she was trading in last year's puppy for a new model."

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