A DEVASTATED dog lover who found her pet dead in a frozen canal is warning owners to keep their animals close during the wintry weather.
When Christine Watson, of Blacon, let Scooby out for a run on December 17, and he ran off into the darkness, she never considered it would be the last time she saw him alive.
The former rescue dog, a male lowchen, suffered from diabetes and heart problems.
After searching for him for four days, and placing a missing notice in the Chronicle , the Watson family were devastated to find Scooby’s body in the canal last Tuesday night.
Christine believes that nine-year-old Scooby may have lost his way in the snow or chased a bird out onto the frozen canal, and fallen through the thin ice into the freezing water.
She said: “I used to let him out all the time, but he always came back to me very quickly, so we knew that something was wrong.
“At first we thought someone had taken him in out of the cold, or he had fallen in a ditch.
“Scooby always kept away from ice but there was a gap in the fence around the canal and he must have wandered through.
“He was a very unusual dog and everyone loved him. I don’t want another dog now, no dog could ever replace Scooby.”
