Meet the pet whippet who is best friends with a magpie

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Mike and Boo do everything together, from going on walks to sharing food and even a bed.

Not so unusual, you might think. Until you learn that Mike is a magpie and Boo is a whippet.

The unlikely bond between bird and dog blossomed four months ago after a distressed Mike was found floundering on his own at about two weeks old.

Boo’s owner Steve Rostron was out on an evening walk in Sabden, Lancashire, when the inquisitive dog sniffed out Mike behind a telephone junction box.

Mr Rostron, 44, an artist, believed Mike may have fallen out of his nest from a tree above. Worried that he might not survive, he and five-year-old Boo took the bird home and, along with Mr Rostron’s partner Janine MacLean, nursed Mike back to health.