Lockerbie dog lover Marion Little has launched a £12,000 appeal for two hip operations for her rescue pet.
The 17-month-old Spanish Mastin, called Duke, is pencilled in for surgery later this month.
And Marion is hoping that fellow dog lovers will help out with the cost of the operations.
She has already raised more than £2,800 and set up an appeal on her Facebook page for donations.
Marion, 61, told how she was forced to give up working as a private palliative care nurse due to complications following surgery to remove part of a lung.
She said: “I had the operation a few years ago but it didn’t go that well and I ended up with broken ribs and some nerve damage and I was told recently that I will be unable to work again.
“I was paying £640 a month for Duke with vets’ bills, hydrotherapy sessions and his tablets plus injections.
“But now that I am not working it has been difficult as I have never taken out insurance for the dogs before and just paid things myself.
“If Duke was 15 or 16-years-old then I would not put him through this but he is only 17 months and has his whole life ahead of him. He is still a baby really. He weighs 60 kilos just now but he has lost weight and had been 70 kilos.
“I have taken in rescue dogs and cats for years and I got Duke from Spain.
“His mother was a street dog when she was found pregnant and the authorities there were going to put Duke in a home where he would not have survived so I took him.
“In the past when I was working I would take the dogs with me. That was part of the deal really and they would be therapeutic for the patients and it worked out wonderfully.
“But then three years ago I had to have part of my lung removed and now I have just been told that I won’t be able to work again because I have no feeling down one side with the nerve damage. It’s a real blow. “
Duke’s surgery is set for August 18 and the £6,000 fees have to be paid before each operation. Marion can be contacted via her Facebook page or email at marionlittle59@gmail.com.
To donate please go to https://gofund.me/eee7f7d2.
