My rescue dog – Holly Berry – has become a real friend during this tough year

Getting a dog, particularly a rescue, is a big commitment – but the rewards are amazing

Tony Robinson and his wife adopted a west highland terrier (Getty/iStock)

In early March, my wife Louise saw a picture of a west highland terrier online and, after a series of long and earnest telephone calls with the RSPCA in Derby, we decided to drive up to see if it would be possible to adopt her.  

Covid-19 was looming, and at that point the advice was that we could go outside but that we should be careful – so we agreed that I’d stay in the car the whole time there and back.

Unfortunately, after a two-and-a-half-hour drive my bladder was the size of a watermelon and when we got to the Derby car park, there was no public loo to be seen. The last thing I wanted was to be papped having a public piddle. So I rushed into the RSPCA and used their lav.  

When I came out the manager was standing there holding a little westie, very skinny, shaking, and with no hair on her legs and belly, and put her in my arms. When my wife saw me holding her she burst out crying. We retreated to the car, the paperwork was signed, and suddenly we had a new member of the family.

When Derby RSPCA had rescued her she had been in an awful state, and as they were already looking after a dog called Holly, they named her Holly Berry. So we have a wonderful dog with a wonderful name.

Nine months later she’s fit, healthy, happy and as hairy as every other westie. We are a real threesome, and she has absolute trust in us. What a wonderful present to have been given! It has made me think a lot about creatures generally, and I have become convinced that one of the key markers of the kind of society we are is how we treat the other species with which we share the planet. My god, I’ve become a born-again animal person, something I never thought I’d ever be!

At Christmas I am going to try not to overfeed her. The temptation is to give her a bit of everything, but the result will be a gastric explosion which wouldn’t be good for her or me. My wife bought something called the Big Doggy Christmas dinner, so she hasn't starved.

I have always loved being on telly at Christmas. There is no objective reason why it should be any more exciting than being on at any other time of year, it is just that Christmas has always been a big telly time for my family, so to be part of it makes me feel doubly Christmassy.

My latest series “The Thames”, starts on 6 January and we have just been commissioned to make “The Thames at Night” in the spring, so I have asked if we can film at Battersea Dogs Home because I am so curious to know what happens there in the evenings.

Virtually every dogs’ home is currently full, so there is a real worry about what will happen when the full impact of next year’s inevitable economic crisis becomes a reality.

The Mayhew, an animal welfare charity for whom I am an ambassador, is very worried there will be a massive increase in abandoned dogs, and virtually no room for them. If that is the case, it’s doubly important that potential owners should think about getting their dog from a rescue centre rather than buying from a breeder.

If you’re toying with the idea of having a dog, ask yourself the question, why wouldn’t I get rescue? Think how happy it would make that dog and what a wonderful thing you would be doing.

I’m so daft about Holly Berry it must show, but she had a terrible time for the first part of her life that I would like to make every day Christmas Day for her from now on.

‘The Thames with Tony Robinson’ airs Wednesday 6 January at 9pm on Channel 5