Maizy the dog finds a home with 'soulmate'

"Not too bright and weighs a tonne," was how eight-year-old Maizy, the homeless Staffordshire Bull Terrier was described.

Luckily for her, 39-year-old Susanna Lunken took pity on the dog holed up in Battersea after reading about her plight in the Evening Standard.

"I thought, they're talking about me - I'm middle-aged and a bit weighty," said Mrs Lunken, Maizy's new owner. "I knew she was my soulmate."

Maizy was one of 12 abandoned dogs featured in the paper last week, all in need of a home.

Over 150 people have since called Battersea, anxious to give one of the dozen a home, and Maizy is the first to be given a second chance.

She was found dumped as a stray in Plumstead by police and has been pining ever since. Mrs Lunken, a former support assistant at a special school in Hainault, Essex, is recovering from ME. Her doctor urged her to get a dog to help her with her therapy.

At Maizy's new home there is a garden, while only half a mile away is Hainault Forest where she will be able to stretch her legs.

In the meantime, she is content to cosy up against the radiator and get to know Susanna's sons, Toby, 15, and Jake, 19.

Mrs Lunken said: "She's a perfect dog - so polite and sociable. She enjoys company and being petted."