Posted on 03/28/2024 3:58:22 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The 76-year-old was found by neighbours with her 'severely malnourished' dog beside her
A dog was heartbreakingly discovered cuddling into the side of its owner a week after she died suddenly at home. The 76-year-old was found dead at her home in West Cross, Swansea on March 24 by her neighbours, who went to check on her after they became concerned after not seeing her for some time.
Christie Powell and the pensioner were neighbours, and she was also a dog groomer for her dog Poppy. Miss Powell explained how she went to knock on her neighbour's door, but uncharacteristically did not hear the eight-year-old miniature poodle barking, and immediately knew something was wrong.
She peered through the letterbox and saw the pensioner's body, and her dog cuddling into her. Emergency services were called to the scene and forcibly gained entry into the property.
Miss Powell and her sister Kate immediately rushed into action to look after Poppy. It is understood the elderly woman had been there for at least a week until she had been discovered, and her dog had not left her side. Poppy was left in a "seriously malnourished and dehydrated" state, was unable to walk and had a perforated ulcer to one of her eyes. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.
Miss Powell said: "My next door neighbour, Yolande, she was in her seventies, quite an elderly and fragile lady. She moved from London five or six years ago and hasn't got a soul in the world, she has got nobody.
"We've tried to intervene a couple of times to help her as we were a bit concerned for her health, but it's been difficult recently as I've just had twins and we haven't been able to keep an eye on her as much as we would have wanted to. It was a week until we noticed we hadn't seen her in the window, and one of the other neighbours also commented, so we went around, and unfortunately it was too late.
Poppy was 'seriously malnourished and dehydrated' when she was found Poppy was 'seriously malnourished and dehydrated' when she was found (Image: Christie Powell) "I'm a dog groomer so I groom Poppy. She always barks constantly and you'll hear her if you knock the door, but when I went round I couldn't hear her barking, and I thought: 'Oh no, something's not right here'. I knocked the door, knocked the door, but there was no answer, so I decided to shout through the letter box.
"As I opened the letter box I could see letters there which wasn't a great sign, and as I peered through the letter box I could actually see Yolande on the floor and Poppy laying on top of her. She was one of the loyalist dogs - when I used to groom her she had the worse separation anxiety, she'd cry and scream the whole time because she hated being away from her.
"My sister rang 999 and I went next door and grabbed a load of ham and dog biscuits and threw them through the letter box, and she was just eating, eating, eating and scratching at the door. Emergency services came and banged down the door, and our thought was to get to the dog, and she clung to my sister like you wouldn't believe, you couldn't get her out of her arms.
"Poppy was petrified. We got her in the house and syringed a load of fluid down her, as much as we possibly could, and a little bit of food, being careful not to overfeed her, because she was just skin and bone.
"Her eyes, it was so bad. They were completely glued together. I clipped her coat, I had to clip her eyes to get all the gunk out, and I put her in the bath. She was drinking the bath water - that's how dehydrated she was. I cwtched her up in a blanket and managed to get some food down her."
Poppy is now on the road to recovery Poppy is now on the road to recovery (Image: Christie Powell) Miss Powell's sister, Kate Di Francesco, was visiting for the weekend from Derby. She vowed never to have another dog, but having been introduced to Poppy in such tragic circumstances, has now decided to take her home to live with her.
Miss Powell, aged 37, said: "She fell in love with Poppy and said 'I'm taking her home. She's got nobody else and she's not going into kennels'. We went to Pets at Home, got her a load of bits in, everything she needed, and she went home with my sister that evening.
"She seemed a little bit brighter having had food and fluids, but later on she went a bit floppy and wasn't right, so Kate rushed her to the emergency vets and that's when we were told that she wouldn't have survived another night had we not found her, and it was touch and go as to whether she would survive that night.
Kate Di Francesco will now look after Poppy Kate Di Francesco will now look after Poppy (Image: Christie Powell) "She came out of surgery today. She had her right eye removed after having a perforated ulcer. They have managed to save her left one.
"She is severely malnourished and dehydrated, and is literally skin and bone. I can put my fingers around her waist, that's how thin she was. My sister is a manager of a residential home, and Poppy will always have someone around.
"My sister will take her to work with her, she will be surrounded by elderly people and always have a lap to cwtch up on, and she's going to be absolutely spoiled rotten. Yolande, the only thing she would ever worry about was Poppy, it's one of the only things she had in the world. It feels like we're doing right by Yolande by looking after her."
A South Wales Police spokesman said: “Officers were called to a report of a sudden death at a property on Kenilworth Place, West Cross, Swansea at around 12pm on Sunday, March 24. A 76-year-old woman found deceased. The circumstances are not considered suspicious.”
Miss Powell is looking to raise £4,000 to cover Poppy's vet bills, with a fundraiser launched which has so far raised £1,960. If you would like to contribute towards the fund, you can do so by clicking here.
Dogs are awesome.
A cat would have eaten its owner’s body.
Seriously, where was the dog supposed to go? Unless he can open doors, he’s literally trapped.
good doggie
More about the dog than her owner.
Is this an pet news site?
I’d adopt him as a reward for his loyalty.
It’s a chat…..anything goes.
…
Then, enjoyed a smoke.
A Californian would have eaten her too.
I’m guessing my dogs would do the same..........
Good thing it wasn’t a pit.
Dog is God spelled backwards. The noblest of GOD’S creatures.
He needed something to eat.
The perils of being alone and having no family.
There countless stories of these loyal animals doing this they weren’t “trapped”. You obviously don’t know dogs.
“More about the dog than her owner.
Is this an pet news site?”
Put a cork in it you fake Tennessean.
They have such sort lives compared to cats. I love them dearly.
Had a dog jump out of a window once. She was a big girl. She broke glass. House was on fire. She had a cat in her mouth accordto the neighbor.
A Nickelodian director would have diddled the dog and ignored the woman
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