A dog left “broken-hearted” when his owner died and his “whole world turned upside down” can finally look forward to a happy future - after finding a new home.

RSPCA West Suffolk branch put out an appeal for new owners for 11-year-old rough-coated border collie Ernie, who had been in kennels for more than a year.

MORE: RSPCA bids to find ‘broken-hearted’ Ernie a home

His owner had no choice but to sign him over to the charity, because she was ill and could no longer take care of him.

She later died, with Stella Pledger from the West Suffolk branch saying: “Ernie had nowhere to go.”

She said it “must have been extremely difficult for Ernie who, as far as we know, spent his whole life with his previous owner, to suddenly find his whole world turned upside down and end up in kennels while pining for his owner”.

She added: “The poor lad was broken-hearted.”

However, the RSPCA has now confirmed that Ernie - described as “sweet and easy-going” and “incredibly playful given his senior age” - has been reserved, after his appeal resulted in a huge response from the public.