Wellard is a fictional dog from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Wellard is a Belgian Tervuren, and first appears on 18 October 1994, and becomes EastEnders' longest-serving pet, before being killed off on 15 August 2008. Although the character is male, he has been played primarily by three female dogs: Zenna, her daughter Chancer, and her granddaughter Kyte. A fourth dog briefly served as a replacement for Zenna in 1996, when she was given time off from the show to have a litter of puppies.
Wellard was briefly written out of the series under executive producer Matthew Robinson, but returned when Robinson was succeeded by John Yorke. Wellard's owners for the majority of his duration in the soap are Robbie Jackson (Dean Gaffney) and Gus Smith (Mohammed George). He was voted "Best Pet" at the 2008 Digital Spy Soap Awards, and named the UK's favourite soap opera pet in a 2009 Inside Soap poll. Wellard was a fan favourite, and although a storyline that saw him threatened with euthanasia for biting local café owner Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) was poorly received by critics, his death drew generally favourable reviews.
Read more about this topic: List Of East Enders Characters (1994)