Holiday couple pay £1,000 to bring home stray dog from Spain
Cascade News
Noa the German Shepherd can look forward to a wonderful Christmas this year thanks to holidaymakers Chris and Bob Thornton.
The couple were trekking in Spain on Christmas Day last year when they found the abandoned dog, which had been chained up and left to die.
Unable to ignore the plight of the starving German Shepherd, the couple released the dog, named her Noa and took her to the nearest vet.
The Express reports that Noa was then taken to a rescue centre, but the couple were unable to forget about her and have since paid £1,000 to bring her back to the UK to live with them in Clawthorpe, Cumbria.
The couple found Noa outside a derelict cottage in the remote region of Mount Sagra, near Alicante.
A dead dog was chained up next to her and she had been left with nowhere to shelter from the sun and without food and water. Although she could see a nearby stream, she couldn't reach it.
Chris, a health visitor, told The Express: "I don't think she would have survived another night. She was very emaciated and could barely stand. She had a huge raw wound around her neck where the chain had cut in as she struggled to get free."
The following day, the couple returned to the spot with a Christmas turkey dinner for Noa. Not knowing how else to help, they drove off and went for a long walk - but when they returned, Noa was waiting by the car.
Chris says: "It was absolutely amazing she found us. There were so many turn-offs and ways she could have gone wrong."
That was when they decided to track down a vet.
The Westmoreland Gazette reports that the couple travelled 20 miles to a vet, who treated Noa's neck and gave her antibiotics.
She then spent a year in an animal rescue centre while the Thorntons applied for passports and vaccinations.
The Express reports that the vets bill alone cost £600, and it then cost an additional £400 to fly her back to the UK.
But it was all worth it because twelve months on, Noa is thriving.
Chris told The Westmoreland Gazette: "She is quite stocky now, she has loads of strength. Everybody loves her, she is so popular. She loves long walks and she's spoilt rotten."
Click on the image below for some great places to spend Christmas in the sun...
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