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A family have been left devastated after a charity refused to let them keep their dying puppy, despite them offering to pay for all the veterinary costs.

Guide Dogs for the Blind have told the Rees-Johnson family from Pontarddulais that the black Labrador will be taken off them on Thursday morning.

The 14-week-old dog has been diagnosed with a heart defect and is unlikely to live past the next six to 12 months.

Edward is the family’s fourth guide dog puppy in training and they have been looking after him since he was seven weeks old. The family have been volunteering with the charity for four years.

Guide Dogs for the Blind say they can offer Edward the specialist care he needs.

At Edward’s 12-week vaccinations it was discovered that he had a loud heart murmur. The charity arranged for him to see a veterinary cardiologist, where he was given the devastating diagnosis of severe sub-aortic stenosis.

Rhiannon Rees-Johnson, aged 44, believes the family can offer the best care and support for Edward.

“Me, my husband and two sons are absolutely heartbroken. Edward is part of the family. He hasn’t got long left to live and we want to take care of him during the short time that he has.

“The charity wanted to take him on Monday but we managed to persuade them to give us more time, they are now taking him tomorrow.

“The charity has told us that we are too emotionally attached.

“They are planning on taking him to Leamington Spa, in Warwickshire. They haven’t got any different care for him. There will be no vet on site – my vet is happy to monitor him,” she claimed.

Rhiannon’s 14-year-old son, Lewis, has set up a petition online.

He said: “I set up the page on Tuesday night. We have so far had nearly 600 signatures. Everyone has given us so much support.

“Edward’s heart defect should have been discovered before he was given to us, we only found out two weeks ago, the charity hasn’t given us enough time with him.”

He added: “The long journey to Leamington Spa will not be nice for Edward. We don’t believe the charity is thinking about what’s best for him.

“He’s so happy living with us and he loves playing with our other dog.”

The family said they would try to persuade Guide Dogs for the Blind not to take the dog when they arrive on Thursday morning.

A spokesman for the charity said they believed they had made the decision with Edward’s best interests in mind, given his prognosis.

“We’ve recently made the very difficult decision to remove Edward from his puppy walkers, and we understand that this is very upsetting for them,” said the spokesman.

“The welfare of our dogs is of paramount importance, Edward will be looked after by one of our specialist volunteer boarders. He will be close to our experienced veterinary nurses, who can give him the full-time love, care and medical attention he will need.”