Former First Minister Alex Salmond has given a Fife hedgehog sanctuary a surprise boost after a chance discovery of a long lost memento.
Mr Salmond sent a cheque for £100 to Forth Hedgehog Hospital in Rosyth after a supporter of the charity reunited him with a dog tag lost by his beloved pet 60 years ago.
It’s thought the Salmond family’s cairn terrier Shadow lost his tag near Broxmouth House at Dunbar while he was visiting with the politician’s late mother Mary, who led camping trips in the area as part of her involvement with the Girl Guides.
Mr Salmond was contacted by Susanne Campbell Crayton, a friend of Linda McHale, whose husband Peter found it with his metal detector.
He replied that his older sister reckoned the tag had been lost in 1968 and that Shadow had been a “great dog”.
Mrs McHale 60, said when she saw the name Salmond inscribed on the tag, with an address in Linlithgow, she suspected it was linked to the former First Minister.
She said: “It really is a heartwarming story because Alex Salmond would only have been about 15 when it was lost and that little dog was a big part of his life, and his family’s life.
“He sent me a card to thank me for thinking about him and sending it to him and he asked me to nominate a charity so he could send a small finder’s fee.”
Nadia Al-Dujaili from Forth Hedgehog Hospital said she was “overwhelmed with this wonderful act of kindness” after receiving the donation.
She added: “It was a nice surprise to receive through the post.
“He was apparently overjoyed to get the tag back.”
She added that she had sent Mr Salmond some trinkets on behalf of the charity including postcards, keyrings and a toy hedgehog.
