Happy end to the tail as assistance dog Toby is ‘back where he belongs’

After more than three days without his constant companion, a Limerick man with autism was last night re-united with his specially-trained dog.

Toby, a three-year-old cross between a Bernese Mountain dog and a beagle, went missing on Sunday from the home in Castleconnell where he had been living for more than a year with 21-year-old Peter Meskell.

The animal had undergone intensive training at the Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland centre in Mallow, Co Cork, at a cost of €15,000 before becoming a huge part of the lives of Peter and his family.