Millionaire slumdog left in India

Paddy, who plays Wilson, in India. Photo / Supplied.

They call him Wilson the Lotto dog, star of a $2.5 million taxpayer-funded advertisement in which he travels the world to return a winning ticket to his master.

Except he didn't.

It has emerged the wire fox terrier was left in India after filming for the advert because quarantine rules meant it was too much trouble to get him back to New Zealand.

The exile from our borders has ended well for the dog - he enjoyed five-star hotel treatment during filming before being given a home with his own personal servant.

The Lotto advertisement was filmed by advertising agency DDB and has won hearts after being launched on World Animal Day.

It depicts "Wilson" leaping from a yacht in stormy weather to rescue a winning Lotto ticket blown overboard. The faithful animal is shown battling the elements, then braving beggars and slums of the Third World to bring the ticket back to his master in New Zealand.

The Herald on Sunday has learned the dog - whose real name was Paddy - was one of three cast for the series of advertisements. But he was the only one who travelled to India on a one-way ticket. The other two terriers live near Wellington.

In the official press release launching the advertisement, NZ Lotteries chief executive Todd McLeay said it was shown on World Animal Day to "celebrate the role that pets play in our lives and acknowledge their loyalty". He said a third of Kiwis owned dogs and most "treat their pet as a member of their family".

Lotto spokeswoman Karen Jones said the decision not to bring Paddy back to New Zealand was based around the quarantine requirements involved.

She said Paddy faced spending up to a year in quarantine before being allowed to run free in New Zealand.

"We weren't willing to do that to a dog. We would have pulled the plug on the India shoot if we couldn't guarantee the welfare of our animal star. Dog welfare, for us, was paramount."

Paddy's journey to India and his new home show the seriousness with which the commission considered his welfare.

Animal handler Caroline Girdlestone said Paddy was driven between locations in an air-conditioned car and stayed in five-star hotels.

During the day, he carried a special hydration mixture with electrolytes to replace body fluid, fed through a pump-driven straw at the edge of his mouth. And, rather than allowing him to get dirty on location, special makeup was used to give him the appearance of living rough.

Each evening he returned to the hotel where he was washed in a marble bath and "men from the hotel would come up with white feather duvets to dry him", said Girdlestone.

At the end of filming, Girdlestone and husband James Delaney escorted Paddy to Bangalore where they met his new family - an ex-pat Kiwi couple with three boys. They stayed for two days, building a fence around the property and discussing ways to settle the dog into his new life in India. "He has a maid of his own so he is never alone," said Girdlestone. "He was the little dog who won Lotto."

The Wilson character had become so popular the commission had needed to reprint the cardboard cutouts used at Lotto outlets to replace those given away. Wilson had also received fan mail and sent Christmas cards to children.

Bangalore, known as India's "Silicon Valley", wrestles with widespread poverty, as does the rest of the country where the average wage is $1300 a year.