Ian with Peya at Heathrow airport

by Jenni Horn

In war torn Kosovo, a forgotten puppy, blind in one eye and riddled with fleas, hobbled into the middle of a busy road and lay down. A truck came roaring past, heading straight for the dog but she didn’t move.

Former Royal Engineer Ian Forde watched in horror as the truck hurtled over the animal.

Seconds later, a 4x4 came past, again headed straight for the stray. Ian closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable yelp. But it didn’t come. When he opened them, the dog was still in the middle of the road. Both vehicles had driven over her, missing her by inches.

Ian, of Lapwing Road, Grain, thought it was fate. He scooped the dog up and it was love at first sight. Since that day, the father-of-two has faced a long battle to bring her home

Ian, who served in the Royal Engineers in Chatham for 24 years, has been working in Kosovo for a bomb disposal team after retiring from the Army last September.

He had passed the dog several times before the incident where she lay down in the middle of the road.

Ian, 43, said: "It had been raining for days on end. I’d seen her at the side of the road trembling with fear and cold.

"When she hobbled into the middle of the road it was like she had given up.

He added: "When I picked her up and looked at her, that was it. I had to keep her."

The mongrel, who Ian named Peya after the town where he found her, had fleas, ticks, rat bites and worms. She was blind in one eye and massively underweight.

Ian nursed her back to health and, after a Skype phone call to his wife, when she fell in love with Peya too, he set about bringing her home.

Ian had 16 days of phone calls, meetings and emails with DEFRA, vets, officials and shipping agents.

He was not allowed to fly her from Kosovo because of a livestock embargo, so he had to get her across three borders before he could fly her from Bulgaria.

Peya is now in quarantine at Heathrow where she will have to stay for three months. Ian and his family have been making the 150-mile round trip to visit her two or three times a week.

Ian said: "She is doing really well and getting bigger every day. She has grown from a half dead mutt, lying in a puddle with traffic running over her, to be the cutest girl, loving life."

Ian added: "Please don’t ask how much it cost but you could have bought a half decent car with the bills."