I grew up around animals all my life so when I bought a house in Galway I missed not having a cat or dog running around the house. We decided to pop out to Heathlawn and have a look a week before St Patrick's day 2007. There are so many beautiful dogs to choose from and wanted to give them all a home but in the end we picked out Bunty (Bronte as she was known as in Heathlawn-but I misheard and thought her name was Bunty).

She was found wandering around an estate in Galway and was pregnant. She had 2 pups in the sanctuary who were so cute but I thought they would get a home quicker than her so we went with mother Bunty. When she arrived at our house I was so excited, we clicked straight away-she was given a new collar with name engraved and a shower-which she is not fond of! She has chewed up a few dog beds-on bed number 6 now but that's to be expected. She adores walkies and the corner of a slice of toast. (I know you're not supposed to give them human food but I think she is half human!).

She understands English perfectly and her facial expressions are priceless-she does not like wet weather and took shelter in a ditch one day when we were on our walks when it suddenly rained. She loves barking at birds and gets on ok with cats, but will chase them if they run. She adores hugs, having her belly rubbed and often is found in our bed having a siesta! My family in Longford adore her, especially my dad. She's a popular dog-so popular she even has her own Facebook page. She goes to tag rugby training and games and was even featured in "The Star" newspaper one summer as a spectator enjoying the game.

We found a dog in Sept 2008 in Ballybrit racecourse when we were out walking Bunty and called him "Buddy"- he is now her best friend. Galway SPCA and I tried to rescue Buddy but it was like he knew what was going on and we could not catch him. In the end after a week of feeding him I gained his trust and brought him home and was very attached to him by then - so we decided to keep him.

Bunty and Buddy are so playful together and I'm glad I went out to Heathlawn that day to look for a dog and found a treasure like Bunty-only for Bunty, Buddy would not have a home either as I wouldn't have been up at the racecourse otherwise. I'm off to walk the pair of them now so there will be yelps of excitement :).

Thanks for giving me the most loving animals-keep up the great work. Aideen Gilchrist Longford/ Galway