The founder of a dog rescue shelter who saved thousands of sick and abandoned dogs has died suddenly after losing a short battle with cancer.
Lisa Ann Knight, from Albury, dedicated most of her life to caring for neglected dogs, many of them from Romania, at the rescue shelter she founded, Snoopy Rescue UK.
The 53-year-old died suddenly on January 31, just eight days after being diagnosed with liver and bowel cancer.
A close friend of Ms Knight, Rachel Welch, has paid tribute to her “big sister” and set up a fundraising page to launch a campaign in her memory.
Ms Welch, from Bagshot, told Surrey Live: "Lisa was such a strong character and was loved by so many in the rescue community.
"So many individuals have been touched by what she's achieved and her passion to help the poor souls of Romania that they too have gone on to start their own rescues."
"She was like a big sister to me and I am gutted. "She was an angel for the voiceless, she helped so many dogs.
"The whole rescue community is so devastated because she did so much good."
Ms Welch and Ms Knight became friends after she responded to a Facebook post about a rescue dog from Romania, called Basil, who needed a new home.
After Ms Knight brought him to the UK, Ms Welch re-homed Basil, despite him being given just a 5% chance of survival.
The encounter inspired Ms Welch to set up her own dog rescue charity, Dogs Walk This Way, which has found homes for over 1,000 dogs in the past four years.
She said meeting Ms Knight "changed her life".
"I was not even looking for a dog and this Facebook post popped up and it caught my eye," she said.
"It was just something about this post; it said something like 'don’t leave me behind'. "It was this little dog called Basil, he was really poorly.
Three weeks later, he came over and I adopted him and then I became very good friends with Lisa."
While one of Ms Knight's many dogs has already found a home with a new family, Ms Welch is looking to re-home two of her other dogs together.
Pixie is an eight-year-old Chihuahua cross, and the other is an eight-year-old Jack Russell called Charlie.
Anyone who is interested in adopting the pair should contact Dogs Walk This Way Rescue.
Ms Welch is planning to organise a dog walk with members of the dog rescue community who knew Ms Knight.
She is also hoping to raise £2,000 to launch a spay and neuter campaign in Romania in Ms Knight's memory. More than £1,000 has been raised so far.
To find out more or to donate, take a look at the GoFundMe page here.
