Southend and Benfleet women behind Tuk's Law campaign

But facing the devastating news your furry friend has been put down by mistake doesn’t bear thinking about and makes the anxiety and trauma even harder to withstand.

For Dawn Ashley, from Benfleet, this was a very real outcome.

Tuk was a five-week-old, Mioritic shepherd puppy that was living on the streets in Romania before being re-homed in the UK.

Sadly, the adoption process went wrong and despite Tuk being a healthy 18-month-old, he was euthanised by a vet who failed to scan his original chip. 

His death inspired the campaign for Tuk’s Law to make sure no healthy animal can be euthanised unless authority to do so is confirmed.

The campaign to get the law changed was championed by Dawn and her friend Sue Williams.

The law meant vets would be legally obligated to scan for microchips and owner details when a healthy dog is requested to be put down.

Remembered - Tuk the dog has inspired the campaign (Image: Provided)

Now Sue, from Southend, and Dawn have revived their campaign for Tuk’s Law and launched a petition which has garnered 20,000 signatures.

Sue believes the recent banning of XL bully dogs and issues with overcrowding in dog pounds have revived the importance of the law, to ensure a healthy dog cannot be put down without authorised approval.

She says despite changes to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Code of Conduct dogs and cats can still legally be euthanised without being scanned.

In non-emergencies, they want vets to be legally required to scan microchips prior to euthanasia.

She said: “Since we began five years ago, nothing has changed and a code of conduct was accepted, but it is merely guidance.

“We’ve heard of instances of pets being ‘revenge-killed’ with a healthy dog being taken by a partner to the vets and the vet won’t scan the dog and then they put the animal down.

“This can happen to anyone, and the trouble is we are aware of situations where vets scan a microchip and potential homes are full, it becomes too easy to dispose of them and we believe XL bullies are being seriously impacted here, though we do not have the accurate figures.”

Spelling out her plans, Sue added: “If someone was to present your dog for euthanasia, they don’t have to tell you, the owner, anything due to data protection and this is the kind of thing we are trying to end.”

Sue added that the support for the new petition has been excellent and that she ultimately wants Tuk’s Law to succeed to help vets and owners avoid these tragic cases.

“We just want people to be aware of rescue backup owners and how they can make the call before they are pressured into putting a dog down.

“Vets do a great job, and we want to work with them.”

To sign the petition visit petition.parliament.uk/petitions/658109