Coronation Street stars took a paws from filming to parade their dogs on the cobbles in a show of support for the fire-ravaged Manchester Dogs Home.

Cast and crew members brought their pets to ITV’s Salford Quays studio to raise money and awareness after at least 43 animals died in a suspected arson attack  at the Harpurhey rehoming centre.

Among them was Georgia May Foote and her adorable cavalier/bichon frise cross, Marley, who was making friends with Samia Ghadie’s cute Maltese pooch, Sonny.

Georgia, 23, who plays Katy Armstrong, said: “When we heard about the fire it was awful. I couldn’t think of anything worse.

"If anything happened to my dog I’d be devastated, so it’s nice that everyone has come together to support it.”

Samia, 32, who plays Maria Connor, brought Sonny in on her day off to show her support for the stricken charity, for which an appeal by our sister paper the Manchester Evening News has now raised over £1.4m .

She said: “I’m a massive dog lover, Sonny is like my little baby, and I just feel really passionate about what happened last week.

“I felt sick at the thought of those helpless animals.

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“It’s so nice that so many people across the country - and the world - have donated so much money. It’s really heartwarming.”

The cause is especially close to Beverley Callard’s heart, having rescued her English bull terrier, Trev, from another rehoming charity three years ago.

The 57-year-old, who plays Liz McDonald, said: “He had been stabbed, he had had both his hips broken with a baseball bat, he was in a really bad way, and apparently it took them about eight months to make him better.

“We gave him a home and he is just the softest boy in the whole world.

“I brought him down to the Rovers today because we were distraught when we heard about the fire.

“We’re just trying to help raise as much money as we can.”

You can still donate to the Manchester Evening News appeal online  here  or by texting MDOG57, followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10, to 70070.