Therapy pug who has helped thousands of poorly children retires

A therapy dog who has helped thousands of children during their time in hospital is retiring after more than eight years of service.
Alfie the pug has been a staple at Manchester Children’s Hospital since 2016 and, after reaching the grand old age of 10 – or 70 in dog years, the time has come for him to hang up his harness for good.
He has made countless poorly children smile with hugs and snuggles, including helping to comfort some of the victims of the Manchester Arena attack.
Dr Suzy Emsden, Alfie’s owner, says his role at the hospital has been vital.
“It was a real privilege to be apart of the response to [the Manchester Arena attack],” she said.
“He’s not going to try and tell you everything’s ok, he’s not going to try and explain it, he’s just going to be there with you in the moment.”
She added: “You can see he’s got his little grey hairs now, he’s getting older, his hearing isn’t as great as it could be any more and he’s just ready to enjoy some years of retirement now.”
Patients have benefited from Alfie’s love and attention since he was a puppy – with the pug so popular one former patient dropped by for one last cuddle.
Abigail Frechou said: “I was here as a cancer patient and having Alfie around helped because I have pets at home and I used to miss them.
“When Alfie used to just show up on my bed it used to just bring happiness.”
Her mum Ellie added: “It was just great to see her smiling, she used to say he was the best thing about treatment.”
Patient Stephen also loves Alfie’s visits.
“Stephen had a bleed on the brain, then he had a spasm on the brain which caused him to have a stroke,” mum Carla Hibbet said.
“Having the dog makes him smile, it brightens up his day.
“It’s a bit of normality because we have a dog at home, which Stephen’s not been able to see.”
But Alfie is not planning a quiet retirement, his Instagram page has grown to 115,000 followers, and he plans to keep his fans updated with retired life.
“He started Instagram when he was still a young pup and somehow or other has got around 115,000 followers I think now on his Instagram, so he’ll still carry on doing some posts about life as a retiree,” Dr Emsden said.