A RESCUE dog given up by five different homes before finding a home in Wrexham has won a national award because of his one-of-a-kind work.

Henry the Hedgehog dog has won gold in the Worker category at the inaugural Naturo SuperDog Awards 2021.

Henry had previously been in five other homes before he was finally placed in his forever home at eight months old.

He has been tirelessly working with Hartpury University’s hedgehog expert Lucy Bearman Brown. In the UK, the population of hedgehogs is rapidly declining and it’s extremely difficult to find and support our prickly pals.

Henry is now the UK’s first dog capable of sniffing out hedgehogs, he works alongside People’s Trust for Endangered Species and British Hedgehog Preservation Society to aid the protection of the UK’s hedgehogs.

When Henry finds a hedgehog he indicates by sitting or lying down beside Louise who will then check the spot, taking care to not disturb the animal.

Henry’s owner Louise Wilson, who runs Wrexham-based Conservation K9 Consultancy, picked up the award on his behalf.

The Leader:

PIC: Louise Wilson with Henry's award.

When asked about her beloved dog, Louise said: “Henry is amazing, but I must admit I've trained thousands of dogs and he has been the hardest. He’s challenged me on so many levels but he’s also been the one I've learnt so much from, every day I learn something new from him.

“He’s a rescue dog and a hard-working dog and I just didn’t want people to think rescue dogs were broken because he is absolutely phenomenal, any project I put him on he excels.”

Others honoured include Mila Moo, who went from certain death five years ago to the Crufts carpet in both 2019 and 2020 and Lucy who inspired Lucy’s Law, encouraging dogs to find their forever homes, when she sadly passed away in 2016.

TV presenter and media personality Stacey Dooley hosted the inaugural Naturo SuperDog Awards 2021 - a new annual awards ceremony, which celebrates and recognises the UK’s most exceptional dogs who help enrich our lives and the world we live in today.

Stars including TV presenter Matt Johnson, television and radio presenter Johnny Vaughan, Corrie favourite Lucy Fallon, Love Island Arabella Chi, Strictly Come Dancing regular Karen Hauer TV vets Dr Scott Miller, Dr James Greenwood and Rory the Vet, as well as radio DJ Aimee Vivian turned out to support the event.