WHEN Sheila Stevens took her cocker spaniel to the vet near Wallingford a year ago she ended up taking three dogs home at the end of her visit.

Two puppies had been rescued by RSPCA officers and taken to Larkmead Vets’ surgery in Cholsey.

Mrs Stevens, 60, took pity on the two Pyrenean cross labradors that had been found abandoned in a freezing field in Cholsey.

Mrs Stevens, who runs Chilton House holiday cottages, took the puppies home and after nursing them both back to health, gave one of them to fellow villager Kate Cheverton.

Now, one year on, the puppies are almost fully grown and a picture of health.

Mrs Stevens said: “Just over a year ago, Larkmead Vets had some tiny orphaned puppies brought in.

“These little pups were only a few hours old and had no mother to feed them, so the staff at Larkmead started to look for a foster parent.

“As luck would have it that very day, I took Shadow, my cocker spaniel, into the vet’s.

“I couldn’t resist taking up the challenge of hand-rearing these tiny little bundles and called them Winston and Halle.

“After eight weeks of sleepless nights, bottle-feeding every two hours, the puppies survived and fast-forward one year they have really grown and are thriving – they could so easily have died.

“Winston the boy now lives with me and my cocker spaniel Shadow and Halle the girl went to live with Kate.

“They now weigh over 40 kilos and love to play with their adopted families – they still walk together over the fields every day together.”

Mrs Stevens urged other people to come forward and contact the RSPCA to provide homes for dogs that have been abandoned.

For further information, visit rspca.org.uk