The mother left the dog in the “safe hands of a friend”, on Friday it had to be put down

A mother left her “loving, silly” dog with someone she thought she could trust, but four months later vets had no choice but to put her pet down.

Bobbi Jo Ritchie, who lives in Warrington, had two dogs: a female Pocket Bully named Dior and a male British Bulldog named Ace. The 29-year-old says Dior’s latest litter of puppies, who were born in February, were initially “very silly”.

The puppies’ health caused Dior to become “grumpy” with their father, so Bobbi decided to send Ace to live with a friend for a while. The mother-of-five told the ECHO: “After the puppies were born, the two had to be separated for a while because Dior was said to be grumpy with Ace.

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“I asked a friend if he could take care of Ace temporarily. I would bring her food and pay any vet bills. He seemed happy with the arrangement and at first he was sending photos and videos of Ace, who seemed happy.”

Four months later, last Thursday, Bobbi said concerned friends and neighbors began contacting her saying Ace was not being fed. When she tried to contact the person who was supposed to be taking care of Ace, she discovered that he had blocked her phone number and social media accounts.

She said: “When we went last Friday, Ace was completely emaciated. He couldn’t walk and had severe bedsores – you could actually see the bones.

“When I took him to the vet, he was too far gone. They said there was nothing they could do. They couldn’t even get IV fluids into him because his veins had collapsed.

“He was euthanized on Friday.”

Bobbi said she and her children are “absolutely devastated” by what happened to Ace. She continued: “We had known this person for a long time and we thought he would take care of him.

“I am heartbroken, my five children – who were in love with Ace – are completely heartbroken. I barely slept or ate over the weekend. We expected to pick up the happy, goofy, lovable dog that would jump all over us.”

There will be a balloon release for Ace next Sunday, which would have been the dog’s third birthday. Bobbi added: “She has given birth to quite a few pups so a few of her pups will be there with family and friends. We want to pay tribute to the most amazing dog who didn’t have a mean bone in his body.

“I also want to make people aware that things like this happen in real life and not just on TV.”

A Cheshire Police spokesman said: “At around 7pm on Friday 28 June, police were called to reports of animal cruelty in Warrington.

“The caller reported that they had collected their dog from an address in Warrington and found that it had sustained a number of injuries while in the care of an acquaintance.