Help Laura give holiday rescue dog a forever home in Carluke

Laura Smith with husband Iain and their two current pets.

The 39-year-old research manager, of Glen Nevis, off Boghall Road, was in Turkey recently when a sick stray dog she has since dubbed Troy captured her heart, leading her to launch an appeal for funds to bring him to Carluke to join Archie, a dog she previously rescued from Greece.

Even before that, she’d already brought home to Carluke her first stray from the rather less exotic location of Easterhouse in Glasgow,

She explained: “On a recent holiday to Turkey, I saw many dogs. Some were being looked after, and some were street dogs and surviving well, but on my last day a sick street dog wandering about aimlessly approached me during my early morning walk.

“He was timid, underweight, coughing and scared.

“He was not going to survive much longer.There was nothing I could do, or so I thought.”

“On my way to the airport that night, I couldn’t get the image of this poor sick dog out of my mind and took the first step to finding him the help he needed.”

That was to get in touch with the Turkish base of the charity Mad For Mutts, and it tracked Troy down and took him to a local kennels for treatment for a chest infection and temporary homing.

She agreed to meet the initial costs for that, but the kennels cannot keep Troy forever, and Laura is now looking for financial help to bring him, after quarantine, to Carluke to provide a permanent family home and the love and attention he has been deprived of.

Said Laura: “Troy will be in boarding kennels for the next four months until he is allowed to be transported to the UK and his new home with me.

“The cost will amount to £2,000 and includes boarding fees, medical treatment, inoculations, microchipping, blood tests, a pet passport certificate and transportation from Turkey to Carluke.”

Added Laura: “The sad thing is that in Turkey, certain breeds of dogs, especially labrador retrievers like Troy, were status symbols, and after that novelty wore off, many of those dogs were abandoned or worse.

“Troy is approximately two years old and has a beautiful nature. With your aid, I will bring Troy to his forever home in Scotland, where he will begin a new life free of neglect and abuse.“

For more details on the appeal or to donate, go to www.gofundme.com/Rescue-Troy-the-street-dog