A dog's life for pets left fortune in British owner's will

LONDON (AFP) - Their need for luxuries might not extend beyond the occasional bone, but a pair of British dogs never have to worry about money again after being left a fortune in their elderly owner's will.

Tina and Kate, a pair of collie crosses, were the unlikely recipients of 450,000 pounds (675,000 euros, 830,000 dollars) after their owner died aged 89 at the end of 2002, the Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.

Nora Hardwell, a reclusive spinster and passionate dog-lover from a village in Somerset, southwest England, had no remaining family and her only companions were the two pampered pets.

A newly-published will revealed she had left the money in trust "for the maintenance of any dogs or dogs which I may own at my death for the period of 21 years from the date of my death or until the death of my last of my dogs, if earlier."

The money will subsequently go to a series of charities.

Hardwell's former gardener, Henry Escott, has been tasked with looking after the dogs.

"She was a kind old soul. She was absolutely devoted to her dogs," he told the paper.

Hardwell was so devoted to her pets that she even refused to get the interior of her house redecorated, "in case the paint upset them", a neighbour added.