Rustington family appeals for a new home for beloved pet

But now, the owners of this Maltese pharaoh hound are appealing to Gazette readers to help and find him a new home.

Husband and wife Geoffrey and Fiona Eyre, of Guildford Road, Rustington, are both set to emigrate to Malta – the country that they rescued their beloved pet Mucu from – at the end of September.

However, the heartbroken couple are not allowed to take the three-year-old pet with them, when the leave.

Fiona, a paramedic with the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECamb), said: “It’s heartbreaking that we have to leave Mucu behind.

“We rescued him from a dog sanctuary when we were on holiday in Malta, in April, last year.

“He was such a lovely and beautiful dog. We grew attached to him instantly.”

However, Fiona discovered she had been offered her dream job with the Maltese ambulance service, she took the tough decision to accept the position.

“It’s horrible but I’ve always loved Malta and wanted to live out there,” she admitted. “I thought that it would be easy to just take him back.

“But apparently there is some legal issue with bringing a rescue dog back to the country, after he has been taken out of it.”

The family will be leaving the country on September 24.

However, they are hoping that someone will step forward before then to adopted Mucu.

She added: “We don’t want to put him in a sanctuary here if we can avoid it because we would love to come and see him again and I don’t think that would happen if he went to a sanctuary.”

Anyone interested should call Fiona on 07721 939053.