A family say they have been given the greatest Christmas gift of all, after their dog defied the odds to survive an aggressive cancer rarely seen in the UK.

Rob Richardson feared he might be spending the festive period without beloved golden retriever cross Joey, who had been diagnosed with canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) – a disease which hasn’t existed in England for more than two decades.

But last week the two-year-old was given the all-clear, thanks to quick-witted vets at Sandhole Veterinary Surgery, Snodland.

It is the second time the lucky pup’s life has been saved in the space of a year. He was just a week away from being put down when Mr Richardson rescued the dog from Bosnia, in July, through charity Happy Paws.

"Joey’s been through a lot but you’d never know it from the way he is. I call him my little box of fireworks. His love is unconditional and I think he’s as grateful for us as we are for him"

The 27-year-old, from Ewell Avenue, West Malling, said: “Joey’s been through a lot but you’d never know it from the way he is. I call him my little box of fireworks. His love is unconditional and I think he’s as grateful for us as we are for him.

“We think he probably had the cancer when we adopted him, but he wasn’t showing any symptoms and it wouldn’t have shown up in the medical screening.

“It was only after few months we began to notice some bleeding.”

Joey was initially thought to have a urinary tract infection but when he failed to get better he was re-examined and diagnosed with an aggressive palm-sized tumour.

While vet Grace Slater had never seen a case of CTVT in her 12-year career, she quickly diagnosed it and he was cured just six weeks later after a course of chemotherapy.

While he was undergoing the treatment, a nurse would sit with Joey in a private room at the Malling Road surgery so he didn’t get too upset by other dogs or being put in a cage.

Mr Richardson, a trainee psychotherapist who works at Wrotham School, said: “We went through a very hard couple of weeks. Joey was miserable and drugged up to the eyeballs and we started to question if we’d done the right thing for him. But now, knowing he’s better is the best Christmas present I could have asked for.

“We just want to say a massive thank you to Grace and everyone at Sandhole. They have gone above and beyond, and saved our dog’s life.”