Back from the brink of death
By Aly Walsh
09:30 - 17 June 2004

A Derbyshire woman was so moved by the sight of a dying dog on the side of a dusty Sri Lankan road that she has raised £3,000 to bring it back home. Sam Noon (46), of Repton, first came across 'Little Bo', who at the time had no fur and was a lifeless creature covered in sores, during a month's visit to Sri Lanka last December.

After five months of endless negotiation, exchanging documents, travelling, fund-raising and heartbreak, Miss Noon has managed to get Little Bo, safe and well, over to this country.

The mongrel arrived in England at the end of last month and is now in quarantine kennels
in north Derbyshire, where Miss Noon visits her twice a week.

She will not be able to take Little Bo home until December.

Miss Noon, who runs her own business selling cards and books, said: "When I first spotted
her on the side of the road she was so weak she couldn't even make a noise.

"She had no fur and was covered with an horrendous skin condition, which gave off a horrible smell. She also had a discharge running from her eyes and had a damaged leg from being hit by a motorcycle."

Miss Noon said the dog would have died if she had done nothing to help. But she decided she would rescue it and contacted a vet in Sri Lanka.

Miss Noon said: "The vet put me in touch with an animal hospital where Little Bo could be cared for and I could visit her every day.

"When I had to come back to England, she went to stay with a lady who looks after rescued cats and dogs.

"So many people have been involved with this little dog over the last six months, it's unbelievable."

On returning home Miss Noon set on a mission, with the help of friends and family, to raise the money to get Little Bo to this country.

Miss Noon said Little Bo was just one of the thousands of stray dogs in Sri Lanka and she is now setting up a charity called Little Bo's Rescue Fund to raise money for the sterilisation and vaccination of these animals.

International Animal Rescue (IAR) is an organisation that helps control the population and spread of disease amongst the large stray dog population in India.

Carrie Colliss, development director of the organisation, said the conditions in Sri Lanka were similar to those in India.

Source - http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?
nodeId=124615&command=displayContent&sourceNode
=124519&contentPK=10337094#