An unlikely friendship between a dog and a duckling captured the hearts of people all around the Western Bay but like Shakespeare's tragic tale, Romeo and Juliet, the odd pair were destined to be split apart
The large boxer dog named Romeo and the baby paradise duckling became friends when the newborn duck was rescued after being found upside down and near death in an open farm paddock at Te Puke.
Juliet, as the fowl was named, was taken back to Heather Loughlin's Matua home and a friendship developed between dog and duckling.
But seven weeks on, Juliet is now a Julius and the drake has turned into "a stroppy teenager", Mrs Loughlin said.
"At the start of the Garden and Art Festival this duck was still called Juliet and she'd sit on the lawn entertaining people. Then during the festival I noticed a touch of green and I thought 'oh crikey, it's a drake'," she said.