Wellard

Wellard is a fictional Belgian Tervuren dog from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He first appeared in the series on 18 October 1994, and became 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 were Robbie Jackson and Gus Smith. 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 was poorly received by critics, his death drew generally favourable reviews.