Tip the therapy dog who touched hundreds of lives
Border collie Tip, a therapy dog who was a favourite with patients in hospital on his weekly, has suddenly passed away.
Jackie Mountain, Tip’s owner, has said she’s been so touched by the overwhelming response of love that has flooded in for the therapy pup.
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Hide AdHaving lost her husband, Tom Mountain, in August, the beloved pet sadly passed away the day after what would have been Tom’s birthday.
Jackie, 69, said: “It would have been Tom’s birthday on Wednesday and Tip died on Thursday (December 12). I thought Tom will be coming back to look after him.
“He had a lump on his leg but I couldn’t get him in the vets until Thursday. They said they’d keep him in for an x-ray but I got the call to say it wasn’t good news.
“He sat down and lifted his paw and he put his paw in my hand and I said they could do it now. He put his paw out for the vet and I laid with him until he passed.
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Hide Ad“When I tell people they can’t look at me without crying. He was such a wonderful boy, he really did love everyone.”
After rescuing Tip from a cat and dog shelter, Jackie decided to get him registered as a Pets as Therapy dog after seeing how mild and kind-natured he was.
Over the last six years, the seven-year-old Border Collie brought smiles to hundreds of people in hospital and care homes in South Tyneside.
Dressed in festive outfits over the Christmas period including a reindeer, an angel and even Santa Claus, Tip would bring joy to staff and patients alike at South Tyneside District Hospital on his weekly visits.
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Hide AdThe great-grandmother said: “So many people will miss his because they’ve seen him over the years.
“When he use to smile at people they thought all their summers had come at once.
“He was ‘one in a million’, that’s what people say to me. He use to smile and laugh – he was just the loveliest boy and he’ll be so missed.”