Mr Cellan-Jones gave his festival talk on Saturday, where he discussed his latest book – Sophie from Romania: a Year of Love and Hope with a Rescue Dog – in which he recounts his experience owning what he described as ‘the world’s shyest dog’. And sadly Sophie was unable to accompany him in the park yesterday morning.
‘When we brought her home, she disappeared behind the sofa, and pretty much lived back there for the first six months she was with us,’ he said.
‘Then when we posted her on social media, she went kind of viral – she was even on BBC news – so there was a huge groundswell of support when I started writing the book about her.’
Mr Cellan-Jones bought Sophie shortly after his last 15-year-old rescue dog, Cabbage, had died.
Having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Mr Cellan-Jones did not want to be without the daily dog walks that keep him active, and so he chose to adopt another rescue dog.
‘She’s still a shy dog – she doesn’t like big open spaces – but she’s not as anxious as she used to be,’ he said, adding that she was quite the reverse of the happy crowd of WAG therapy dogs walking alongside him.
The WAG dogs visit residential homes, the hospital, schools and day centres around the island, bringing comfort and joy to the people they visit.