A BELOVED pet dog who became famous because of his incredible story after being rescued from a railway line died at the weekend in his owner’s arms.

The story of Owen Howkins and his three-legged Italian shepherd Haatchi captured the hearts of the public and was the inspiration behind a book published in 2014.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Owen, from Basingstoke, known to his family as Little B, has a rare genetic condition called Schwartz-Jampel syndrome, which causes his muscles to be permanently tensed.

Haatchi was adopted by Owen’s family and is credited with giving the little boy a new lease of life.

Haatchi’s harrowing story was published in a book released by Transworld Digital and tells of how he was abandoned on a railway line and hit by a train in January 2012.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Somehow, five-month-old Haatchi survived the blood loss from his partially severed leg and tail and managed to crawl to safety.

A Facebook appeal brought him to the attention of Will Howkins – the father of Owen - who welcomed Haatchi into their home just six weeks after he was almost killed.

Owen, now 15, immediately fell in love with Haatchi and the book tells the inspiring story of how Owen’s life was changed forever by the incredible friendship with his dog.

Basingstoke Gazette:

On Saturday, a post on a Facebook page set up for fans of Haatchi, followed by more than 225,000 people, gave the sad news about his death.

Haatchi was diagnosed two years ago with laryngeal paralysis and the family thought it had started to advance several weeks ago.

They took Haatchi to the vets and found cancer in his bones and lungs.

Written as if Haatchi had said it himself, the heart-breaking post on Facebook read: “We all tried so hard but as time went on the cancer took more and more of my body up. Despite all the wonderful freckle kisses I took a turn for the worse. I stopped eating and drinking and was suddenly unable to walk.

Basingstoke Gazette:

“My Owen never left my side, sleeping on the floor with me and constantly having his arms wrapped around me. The team dropped everything to race to our home. I tried so hard to stay with them but I fell asleep in my Owen's arms with my heart free of cancer because there was too much love in it for it to get in there.”