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An adorable dog abandoned in a shelter for NINE YEARS is still looking for a loving owner this Christmas.

Despite Sophie, the collie-corgi cross being the spitting image of the Queen's famous corgis, no-one is keen to take the 11-year-old home.

She is the longest-running resident at Hilbrae Kennels in Telford, Shrops, where staff love the adorable pooch and are desperate to find her a home for the festive season.

Kennel supervisor Claudia Churchill, 51, said: "Sophie just needs someone to love her. All she needs is for someone to give her a chance.

"To see her in a new home for Christmas would be the best present I could ask for."

(Image: MIKEY JONES / CATERS NEWS)

A stray that arrived to the shelter in 2005, Sophie has been passed over for younger or cuter dogs time and time again.

Staff say that every time people come to look round the kennels, they spend moment looking at Sophie before plumping for more fashionable breeds or puppies yelping for attention.

But Sophie, who is tired from years of trying to impress potential new owners, finds it hard to stand out.

She even gets special support from the Oldie's Club – a charity committed to helping older dogs find homes – due to her advanced years.

Now her handlers are doubling their efforts to find her 'retirement home' for Christmas.

Claudia said: "In all the years she has been here we have re-homed hundreds of dogs, but nobody seems to want Sophie.

"We don't know her back story but we'd love to get her a perfect future. Although she was a bit of a livewire as a younger dog she really has mellowed with age.

"She is such a sweetheart and deserves a loving family to take her in."

(Image: MIKEY JONES / CATERS NEWS)

Kennel manager Marty Burrell said December is when older dogs are most likely to be abandoned and it is even harder to find homes for their elderly residents.

She said: "There is rarely a shortage of people willing to offer new homes to cute little puppies but rehousing adult dogs can be much more of a challenge.

"People are worried about the vets' bills and they think it will cost them a fortune.

"It is not necessarily the case, one of my dogs lived to be 16, and he hadn't seen the vet since his inoculations, and there are young dogs who are always in and out of the vets."

"I think the older dogs tend to be dumped before Christmas because they worry there might be vets' bills coming up, and people don't want the expense around Christmas."