Dog now local celebrity in tiny city as taxi driver takes him to work

A chihuahua has become a local celebrity after the council gave a taxi driver permission to take him to work.

Michelle Chesterfield, a taxi driver in the Scottish city of Inverness, became increasingly concerned after 14-year-old chihuahua Benji developed separation anxiety following the death of her two other dogs.  

Her two elderly female chihuahuas, Minnie and Tootie, died within weeks of each other after being diagnosed with silent heart disease – leaving her youngest dog devastated.

Benji, who has been on medication for heart disease for eight months, requires four different medications three times per day – with Michelle travelling back home every few hours to administer his treatment. 

After weeks of worrying while at work, Michelle approached her employer and her local council to obtain approval to take Benji to work with her – and within days, she had received permission.

She said: “I lost my two girl chihuahuas to heart disease – all of a sudden, they started coughing in the morning, so I took them to the vet and then that was it. Benji started coughing about eight months ago, so I took him to the vet.”

“They told me he has heart disease, and his throat is collapsing a wee bit because he’s so old and his muscles are deteriorating.

“I really didn’t want to leave him by himself without his sisters. I could see that he was so sad without them. They were together all the time.

“He’s always had a bit of separation anxiety. He’s like my little shadow anywhere I walk, he’s there.”

Michelle added: “I was coming home three or four times a day to check on him. I didn’t know if I had to get permission from the council or not I thought there would be somebody out there that would complain about him being in the car, so I wanted to get permission to make sure.

“I mentioned to a few regular customers that I was thinking about doing it, and everybody said I should.

“If Benji gets fed up of being in the car, I’ll take him to the office and Dougie will take him on a walk. When he’s sitting in the office, he’ll mostly be on Dougie’s lap!

“I’m glad that I’ve got the opportunity to take him with me – he might not have long left. When people see Benji, they can’t help but love him.”

“It was only a matter of a couple of days until they said yes. I was delighted I really didn’t think I’d get it.”

“I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t I probably would have had to give up my job to stay home with him.”

Benji now sits happily in Michelle’s passenger seat while she works – much to the delight of her regular customers. Co-worker Dougie also steps in to help when he can – offering to walk Benji or look after him in the office if he gets “fed up” with the car.

“Everybody loves him!” Michelle said.  “He loves the attention from passengers as well, everyone’s so nice!”

“A few people have said to me they will phone and ask for me again because they want to see Benji.”