The Star has written every week this year about the dogs at Thornberry Animal Sanctuary and Helping Yorkshire Poundies in the hope of finding them all a sofa to sleep on.
We’ve seen a lot of dogs come and go. So it breaks our heart to see how some of these marvellous pups - including loveable cane corsos, lurchers and staffies - have gone ALL of 2025 without a sniff.
In fact, a handful of these lonely pups have been waiting since the middle of 2024, wondering when their new owner will pick them out.
They include poor Franklin the cane corso, a ‘”big, goofy puppy” that HYPS says would make “a wonderful companion” and just needs a quiet life - but he went without any callers for the whole of 2025.
Or there’s Simon the saluki at Thornberry Animal Sanctuary who has been waiting since 2024. He just needs someone who will understand his, ‘enthusiasm’ and is prepared to give him a place where he can burn off all his energy.
How about Gilly the shih tzu, who has found herself in need of a home at the ripe old age of 13. Won’t someone make sure she has a warm lap for her golden days?
See below for the 28 dogs going into 2026 waiting for a home in South Yorkshire, starting with the poor pups who have been waiting the longest.
5. Gilly - ShihTzu, 13 years old, male
"Gilly the ShihTzu is 13 years young and is the most lovely friendly boy who needs a home with lots of company, and another calmer dog (or 2!) for companionship, as he loves the company of other dogs. He is such a good boy who is still sprightly for his age and enjoys getting out for a nice walk. Gilly is fully housetrained and very well behaved. His only ‘issue’ is that he has seperation anxiety and panics when his humans leave (even with the company of other dogs), so he needs a home who can manage this for him – at his age he doesn’t need the stress and worry of being left. Gilly previously had bladder stones (which were removed), so now needs a special diet to prevent any more forming – he currently eats Royal Canin urinary dry food, and will need to stay on this for the rest of his life. He has been diagnosed with Cushings disease, but has no symptoms, and does not need any treatment for this, but it is just something to be aware of in case he does develop any symptoms later in life, as he may then need to start medication. Gilly is a very special little old man who just needs to find a special retirement home who can give him all the love, company and TLC he deserves." - https://helpingyorkshirepoundies.co.uk/male/gilly/ | Helping Yorkshire Poundies
6. Ken, the 'boisterous' Labrador Cross Dogue De Bordeaux
"Say hello to Ken, a fun and boisterous boy bursting with personality. Ken has been in several homes in his short life, but despite this he is very loving and trusting. Common with Bordeaux he is extremely loyal but can be initially a little wary. He is good with other dogs but best to be the only dog to manage his training. He is best suited to live in an adult only / older teen environment." - https://www.thornberryanimalsanctuary.org/animals/max/ | Thornberry Animal Sanctuary
7. 'Lovely' Luna the lurcher
"Lovely Luna! Luna arrived as a stray needing urgent medical treatment as she had a large wound on her leg. She has now recovered incredibly well and is ready to find her forever home. Luna is very clean in her kennel, lovely to walk and really fun. She could live with teens aged 14+ that are confident around a big girl. She is good with other dogs of a similar size. Luna does have some prey drive so a lurcher savvy family is essential!" - https://www.thornberryanimalsanctuary.org/animals/16529/ | Thornberry Animal Sanctuary
8. Patsy, the 'chunky' Bully Breed
"Patsy is a gorgeous medium/large sized bully breed – around 33kg, so is quite a chunky girl but is very chilled out and easy going. We do not know her exact age, but estimate her to be around 4 yrs old. Patsy would fit in perfectly to a calm/quiet household – she is such a good girl who is very easy and undemanding around the house – she just needs a calm, confident person to understand her. She walks perfectly on lead and does not pull at all and is very low energy, so just needs a couple of shorter walks per day. Patsy could live with the right dog – a large breed male who is very confident and will give her boundaries, but we think she will do best as the only dog. Patsy is clean in the house, is absolutely fine to be left alone for a few hours, and is generally very low energy, but can get easily excited for eg with visitors, so would suit a less busy household. She thrives on a good routine. She will need a home with direct access to a private secure garden that she can sunbathe in to her hearts content and lounge around chomping on her beloved tennis balls! Patsy will be a dream for the right home – she has tons of character and really deserves to find her forever home with someone who ideally has Bully experience (or larger breed savvy) who will give her life after clearly having such a rubbish start to life." - https://helpingyorkshirepoundies.co.uk/large/patsy/ | Helping Yorkshire Poundies