Britain’s saddest puppy is finally learning how to play after he was trapped in a cage for so long his back legs stopped working.
Floyd can only walk by dragging his back legs behind him after he was cruelly neglected and confined to a cage – and needed to be taught how to eat from a bowl.
The six-month-old Cockapoo struggles to walk due to deformities in his hind legs and spine, caused by birth defects not being treated, and is so frightened of people that he refuses to look up at anyone.
The cute poodle-cross was found shivering in a bush by the roadside where he was rescued six weeks ago and taken to Wigmore Veterinary Surgery in Rainham, Kent.
Cruel neglect and malnourishment took its toll on the puppy that was left with only 50 per cent movement in his back legs.
Floyd was rescued by vets at Medway rescue charity Animals Lost and Found, who had to teach him how to eat from a bowl because he’d never been fed properly.
Natasha McPhee and Dee Potter, who launched the charity in 2016, spent the next month rehabilitating the small, sad looking puppy – who was just skin-and-bones.
The pair taught Floyd how to eat from a bowl and accept their love and cuddles instead of being frightened of contact.
He was also x-rayed, taken to physiotherapy and given hydrotherapy sessions.
Floyd clung to Dee for weeks, too scared to leave her side, but is now playing with other dogs at his new home after learning how to live without fear.
Rescue centre Anim-Mates offered Floyd a permanent home at their sanctuary at Olivers Farm in Kent and promised to get him the treatment he needs to correct his mobility problem.
The Kent based charity, in Ash, has launched a campaign to raise money for the abandoned pup to have the surgery he desperately needs – which could give him 80 per cent movement.
Sanctuary manager Teresa Bloomfield said: “Floyd has settled in at the sanctuary and enjoys playing the other rescue dogs including Daisy-May, Nicky, Mavis and Marvin.
“The surgery Floyd desperately needs is expected to cost many thousands of pounds.
“We are only a small charity run entirely by volunteers but we hope the public will contribute to Floyd’s fund to a help give him a better and more active life.”
Charity trustee Dennis White, who also cares for cats, rabbits and horses at the sanctuary, said Floyd was in “the worst state among all the dogs they have had in the last year.”
The volunteer secretary said: “It is horrific. It was the vet that thought Floyd must have been kept in a cage, with a cruel restriction of movement.
“It is very cruel to keep a puppy in such a small cage, if that were the case, when he is supposed to be playing and running around.”
But the adorable pup has made fantastic progress at the centre, where he loves to play with the other rescue dogs and enjoys lots of cuddles.
Dennis said: “Floyd is a happy little puppy now – he is always playing with the other rescue dogs.
“He is just like any other normal puppy – he wants to play all the time and sniff the ground and he loves cuddles.”
“When rescued animals come to us you can see the happiness of their face.
“Floyd was covered in flees when he was abandoned but the vets took great care of him and when came to us and he was very happy.”
Vets were told Floyd was found near a puppy farm in a horrific condition.
Dennis said: “Puppy farms have a terrible reputation for breeding dogs and when they have finished with them, they try to get them rehomed or they dump them.
“We don’t know what happened to Floyd before he was rescued but I understand he was found near a puppy farm.”