And they called it puppy love.

Barclay the terrier had an emotional reunion with his owner -- after his gazing eyes were pictured on the front page of The Royal Gazette .

Disabled Phil Cracknell was so heartbroken when he saw Barclay's picture that he vowed to rescue his old pet from the dog kennels.

The SPCA shelter on Valley Road, Paget, operates a no-kill policy. But some dogs do have to be returned to the Government warden when the canine waiting list grows, and some are put down if no owners are found.

Barclay's forlorn look captured the hearts of scores of readers, who jammed the SPCA switchboard asking to adopt pups.

Two dogs found new homes on Friday, the day after The Royal Gazette ran a story appealing for would-be owners to come forward.

Now SPCA helpers have a long list of first-time adoption candidates to check through before allowing more dogs into new surroundings.

Society spokeswoman Joanne MacPhee said: "Barclay's owner had two dogs and felt he couldn't really cope with them both.

"But as soon as he saw Barclay in the paper, he wanted to take him back. We have also had a fantastic response from first-time adopters and we had a lot of people coming in after the story ran.

"The bad news is that some people think we put dogs down, which we don't. But you could say we have been doing some very brisk trade.'' Polio sufferer Mr. Cracknell, 51, said he only allowed six-year-old Barclay and his sister Sophie to leave their St. George's home as he was going through a divorce.

He was also concerned that his disease, which he's had since early childhood, stopped him giving the pets the love and attention they deserved.

"Thankfully, Barclay is no longer in the executioner's hands,'' said Mr.

Cracknell, of Wellington Street, who works for Exel Ltd.

"The SPCA explained to me that they ran a no-kill shelter and I know that only some of the dogs have to go back to the warden.

"But the moment I saw the paper, I knew I had to save Barclay. My other dog was Sophie and she's still in the shelter, but hopefully she can be found a good home. I just knew I couldn't cope with them both.

"I saw someone reading the story and I peered over their shoulder because I knew it was Barclay straight away.

"Then I went into panic mode and I had to go and get him back. We stopped off at Pet Care East in Tiger Bay, on the way home, and one of the ladies asked me if Barclay was the dog in the paper.

"I said yes and she just burst into tears and threw her arms around me. She almost started me crying.'' The SPCA appealed for more adoptions after revealing their kennels were full with nine dogs and five waiting to come in from the Government warden.

The warden's office picked up 217 strays between January 1 and September 16, compared to 180 for the same period last year.

The SPCA can be contacted on 236-7333.