RSPCA: Cent feels like a million dollars in his new home
A bilingual border collie who only responded to commands in Polish has said “czesc”* to his new owners after a nationwide appeal by an RSPCA animal centre.
Cent has settled in with his new owners, the Mroz family from Chelmsford, after 16-year-old Dominic and his mum Jolanta spotted the canine linguist’s unusual story on the television.
Staff at the RSPCA animal centre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, were originally left baffled when Cent arrived with them back in September, when his previous owners could no longer look after him.
His blank reaction to commands such as ‘sit’ and ‘fetch’ prompted fears the clever collie may have been deaf. However, it soon became apparent that two-year-old Cent could only understand Polish.
The RSPCA team spent four months training Cent, who is now able to respond to many commands in English. However, his language skills won’t be wasted in his new home, where his new owners speak both English and Polish.
Jolanta said: “He understands Polish really well and he’ll immediately react to a lot of commands. He’s so clever though and he understands English as well now, so we speak to him in both languages.
“We had been looking for a dog already, but we spotted Cent on the television and because we are of Polish origin, his story really stuck with us.
“As we live down in Essex and Cent was up near Manchester, I didn’t think it would be possible for us to have him, but Dominic and his cousin told me to ring up and ask. The RSPCA were fantastic and someone from the local branch in Essex came to see us at our home before we went up to see Cent in Oldham.
“We must have watched a clip of him on the internet about 50 times before we went, so I already felt like we knew him by the time we actually got to meet him.”
Mandy Tierney, manager of the RSPCA’s Bury, Oldham and District branch, said: “He had been with us for four months and we spent so much time with him, so it was very sad to see him go. He couldn’t have gone to a more perfect home though. The minute Jolanta started speaking to him in Polish he instantly responded and was doing whatever she said.”
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Notes for editors
*Czesc, pronounced ‘chesh’, is Polish for hello.
A photograph of Cent is available by ringing 0300 123 0244 or emailing press@rspca.org.uk
RSPCA, Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9RS
Press office direct lines: 0300 123 0244/0288 Fax: 0303 123 0099
Duty press officer (evenings and weekends) Tel 08448 222888 and ask for pager number 828825
Email: press@rspca.org.uk Website: www.rspca.org.uk
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