Lucy WalshJenna Ortega arrived at the Corinthia Hotel in London on 14 October 2026 for a photocall for Klara and the Sun, and she brought her whippet, Twigs. The dog wore a dark coat and, according to W Magazine, was adopted from an animal sanctuary in Ireland while Ortega filmed the second season of Wednesday. The film screens as a headline gala at the 70th BFI London Film Festival on 15 October.
Why Twigs is the story people are searching for
Ortega's outfit was a Calvin Klein look from the Spring 2027 collection, paired with Christian Louboutin platform booties, but much of the online attention went to the black whippet at her side. Fashion outlets covered the matching colour palette, while dog owners asked something different: how does a rescue dog from Ireland end up living a normal life in Britain, and what should a new owner check first?
W Magazine describes Twigs as the runt of her litter, with a bad eye and a tendency to fall ill. That history is common among rescue dogs, and it matters. A dog that starts life with health problems needs a different plan from a healthy puppy bought from a breeder.
Ortega named the dog for the way she looks when she sleeps, which she has described as resembling a pile of twigs. The humour hides a real point about whippets: they are lean, short-coated sighthounds with very little body fat.
The vet's view: what a lean, short-coated dog needs in October
Whippets lose body heat quickly. A dark coat on a London photocall in mid-October is not a fashion accessory alone; it is basic care for a breed with thin skin and almost no insulation. British veterinary practices see the same pattern every autumn, when owners of greyhounds, whippets and lurchers are advised to start using coats on cold or wet walks.
Crowds are the second issue. Flashbulbs, shouting photographers and dense foot traffic raise stress in most dogs, and rescue dogs with an uncertain early history often react more strongly. Signs a vet looks for include panting without heat, lip licking, a tucked tail, trembling and refusal to move. If a dog shows several together, the sensible step is to leave the noisy area.
Eye problems deserve their own mention. W Magazine reports that Twigs had a bad eye. In any dog, a cloudy, red, weeping or squinting eye should be seen by a vet promptly, because untreated eye conditions can worsen within days. Owners of rescue dogs with a known eye history should book a baseline check soon after adoption, not wait for a flare-up.
The paperwork behind a dog from an Irish sanctuary
The less glamorous question is the legal route. According to the UK government's pet travel guidance, a dog entering Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) must follow a fixed sequence, and travelling from Ireland means you do not need an approved travel route.
The steps are these. The dog must be microchipped before its rabies vaccination. It must then wait at least 21 full days after the first vaccination, or after the last dose of the first course. Your vet issues a pet travel document, such as an animal health certificate, a Great Britain pet health certificate or a pet passport, depending on where you travel from. A tapeworm treatment is also listed, to be given no less than 24 hours and no more than 5 days before arrival.
If you are selling or rehoming the dog, or the dog arrives more than 5 days before or after you, extra rules known as Balai rules apply. Rescue adoptions often fall into that category, which is why a sanctuary and an adopter should clarify the route before anyone books a ferry.
A rescue adoption, step by step
Take a realistic example. Priya, who lives in Bristol, agrees on 1 November 2026 to adopt a one-year-old whippet cross from a sanctuary near Dublin. The dog is already microchipped, but has never had a rabies vaccination.
The sequence then works like this. If the dog is vaccinated against rabies on 2 November, the 21 full days must pass before travel, so the earliest compliant arrival is 24 November 2026. If Priya books the Holyhead ferry for 20 November because it is cheaper, the dog does not meet the waiting period. Under the government guidance, a non-compliant dog may be put into quarantine for up to 4 months, or refused entry if it arrives by sea, and the owner pays the fees.
The if/then logic is simple. If the microchip is implanted after the rabies jab, the vaccination must be repeated. If the tapeworm treatment is given 6 days before arrival instead of 5, it falls outside the window and must be redone. If the dog travels separately from Priya, or the sanctuary is transferring ownership, Balai rules apply and the pet travel declaration is not the right form.
Each of those errors costs days, not minutes. A single missed date can turn a planned 2 December homecoming into a quarantine bill and a stressed dog in a kennel.
What to ask your vet before and after the move
Veterinary advice is most useful in three places. Before the move, ask the vet who issues the documents to check the sequence against your actual travel date. A mismatch of one day is enough to invalidate the paperwork.
Immediately after arrival, book a full health check within the first week. For a dog with a history like Twigs, ask the vet to look at the eyes, the skin and the teeth, and to review vaccinations and parasite control. Bring any records the sanctuary gave you, including notes on previous illnesses.
In the first months, build a plan for the specific breed. A whippet needs a coat in cold weather, a secure lead near roads because sighthounds chase at speed, and a diet that keeps it lean without letting ribs show too prominently. Your vet can score body condition and tell you whether the dog sits in the right range.
Questions new rescue owners should ask the sanctuary
Before you commit, ask the sanctuary for the dog's full medical file, including any vaccination dates, treatments and the date of microchipping. Ask what is known about the dog's behaviour around strangers, traffic and loud noise, and whether it has ever been treated for an eye, skin or stomach problem.
Ask too who will complete the transfer paperwork. Clear answers early protect both the dog and the adopter, and they give your British vet a solid starting point for ongoing care.
How to take the right lesson from a red carpet dog
Celebrity pets can make rescue adoption look effortless. Twigs appeared calm in London, but the cameras do not show the planning: the vaccination dates, the vet visits, the coat, the quiet breaks away from the crowd.
For ordinary owners, the takeaway is practical. Rescue dogs can be wonderful companions, but they often arrive with unknowns. Spend the money on a proper vet check early, follow the official entry rules to the day, and treat stress signals seriously, whether the setting is a film festival or a busy high street.
If you are planning to bring a rescue dog to Britain, or you have just adopted one with eye, skin or stress problems, you can speak to a qualified vet through the Animals and Veterinarians category on ExpertZoom. The official rules sit on the UK government pet travel pages, and a vet can translate them into dates that work for your dog.
This article is general information, not a substitute for a veterinary examination or personalised advice from your own vet.
