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A puppy, who was abandoned in Parnwell at just seven weeks old appearing thin and worm-ridden, has been successfully re-homed.

Dave – who rescuers initially named ‘Mole’ – was one of three puppies found abandoned in Henshaw on a bitterly cold night in January.

After being successfully cared for by the RSPCA following the pups’ rescue, the 17-week old terrier-cum-Jack Russell is enjoying a new lease of life with his new owners, 47-year-old Pippa Cable and her family.

17-week-old rescue dog Dave - who was abandoned when he was just seven weeks old - is "thriving' since being successfully re-homed.

Pippa told the Peterborough Telegraph she applied to re-home Dave after reading about the three puppies’ tragic tale on Facebook.

“I’m baffled at why someone would just dump them,” she said.

The civil servant was thrilled when she found out her application had been approved.

She was soon invited to the rescue centre for a ‘meet-and-greet’ with the frail canine, which she attended with her 17-year-old son, James, and her five-year old dog, Huey.

The unwanted animals, two girls and a boy, named Squirrel, Mole, and Shrew, were initially found by a concerned individual in Henshaw on January 10.

The dog-lover remembers how ‘Mole’ looked “very small and very scared.”

“My son picked him up and put him in his arms and he rested his head,” she said: “it was like he was content.”

Connection successfully established, Pippa and her clan couldn’t wait to get their new addition back to the family home, where a recent bereavement still loomed large.

George, a 15-year family whippet who had been part of the family since he was just six-weeks-old, had died weeks earlier in January.

Dave the rescue dog with 5-year-old 'bedipoo', Huey. "“We needed him as much as he needed us,” said the dogs' owner, Pippa Cable.

This abrupt loss had had an intense impact on George’s loyal companion, Huey the ‘bedipoo’ (Bedlington poodle cross).

“He had literally shut down,” Pippa remembers: “he’d lost the sparkle in his eyes; he’d lost a kilo in weight.”

“We were hand-feeding him, it had got that bad.”

Happily, Dave’s arrival gave Huey just the boost he needed.

Rescue dog Dave has quickly become an integral part of the Cable family. “He’s such a gorgeous little dog,“ says his new owner, "and he’s really turning into such a character."

“How he’s settled with my other dog is amazing,” Pippa explains, “they sleep together [and] he’s thriving now, bless him.”

Pippa is thrilled that both of her dogs are now fit, well and happy, even if newcomer Dave is still “a little bit wary” at times.

“He’s such a gorgeous little dog,“ Pippa says, “and he’s really turning into such a character.”

“We needed him as much as he needed us.”

Abandoned and thin Parnwell dog doing ‘very well’ with new family after RSPCA rescued three puppies