RSPCA Baffled as 'Lovely' Toby Spends 700 Days Searching for Forever Home

Nearly two years. That's how long Toby has been waiting—almost 700 days in the care of the RSPCA, moved from one facility to another, passed over again and again by people looking for a dog to take home. He's a four-year-old tan terrier, the kind of dog that staff at Bryn Y Maen Animal Centre in Upper Colwyn Bay describe without hesitation as lovely, with a tail that never stops wagging. And yet he remains.

Toby arrived at the North Wales centre after a 185-mile transfer from RSPCA Great Ayton in Middlesbrough, where he had drawn no interest from potential adopters. He came from a multi-animal household and needed a fresh start—a home of his own, with adults only, and no other pets to compete with for attention. The move was meant to be a turning point. It hasn't been.

Sarah Davies, an animal care assistant at the centre, speaks about Toby with genuine affection and genuine bewilderment. He is, by every measure she can name, an ideal companion. He loves exploring, sniffing about, making friends with the handlers at the centre. He's intelligent—quick to learn, eager to work for treats and praise. He travels well in vehicles, settling easily. He has his favourite people at the facility, people whose company he seeks out once he's built enough confidence. He enjoys the simple things: a nap in his kennel, his nose in the sunshine, the comfort of being close to someone who cares.

What makes Toby's story particularly striking is not what he lacks but what he's overcome. When he first arrived at Great Ayton, he was frightened of household sounds—the vacuum cleaner terrified him. The staff there worked with him, desensitizing him to those everyday noises, proving to him that the world wasn't as scary as he'd learned to believe. He responded. He learned. He changed. He showed the kind of adaptability and resilience that should make any adopter confident in bringing him home.

Yet the phone hasn't rung. Or it has, but not for Toby. The RSPCA staff are openly puzzled by his prolonged stay. There is no obvious reason, no behavioural issue or medical concern, no trait that would explain why a dog so clearly capable of thriving in a home has spent nearly two years in a kennel. Davies and her colleagues are hopeful that May will be different, that this month will finally bring the right person or family through the door—someone who will see what they see in him, someone ready to give him the forever home he's been waiting for.

Also at the centre is Frieda, a seven-month-old kitten who was recently returned after an adoption didn't work out. She too is seeking an adults-only home, one where she can eventually have access to the outdoors. She's described as sweet, affectionate, playful—a kitten who has already won the hearts of staff and foster carers but is still waiting for a family to truly call her own.