A woman who recently lost her own dog, dramatically rescued a pooch who was at death’s door – and has now adopted her.

Kate Walton was driving along the B2000 near Strood with her three young children when she noticed a bloodied, quivering bundle of fur at the roadside.

She pulled over to discover the young greyhound-lurcher cross – her leg was broken and the bone sticking out.

The 33-year-old’s boxer dog Poppy had died recently and she and still had its blanket in the boot of her car.

“It was about 6pm and dark, I wanted to wrap the dog up, I didn’t want the children to see how badly she was injured.

“A few people stopped to see if they could help, one offered to take her to the vet, but once I got her, I didn’t want to let her out of my sight.

“I’m not stupid, I know you have to be careful with unknown dogs, but her head was on the ground, she was obviously exhausted and in pain – I knew she wouldn’t bite me. A man came to help me and together we lifted her into my car.”

Mrs Walton rang the RSPCA and then took the dog a vets, who confirmed it was likely she had been hit by a vehicle and found she had no collar or microchip and was also suffering from a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.

Mrs Walton, who used to work as a vets’ receptionist, added: “I was told they normally give the dogs around seven days for an owner to come forward, otherwise it was likely she would be destroyed.

“I didn’t think she was going to make it anyway to be honest. But I said I’d keep her over Christmas if they needed me too.”

Frantic with worry, Mrs Walton and the children were desperate to know how the dog was.

The next day the council called and gave her a complete update.

“They asked me if I was willing to keep her. I said I could love and care for her but I couldn’t take on the responsibility of all the vet bills – we didn’t know how much it would all come to.”

The council agreed to pay a chunk and Easipetcare agreed to waive the rest.

“Everyone loved her, she had such a sad story but was so lovely and gentle. Despite her pain she never once growled or bared her teeth.”

There was talk at one point of amputating her leg, but in the end only a toe had to come off.

The seven days’ grace period was up on Christmas Eve and with no one coming forward to claim her, the family agreed to officially adopt her.

They’ve called her a festive Belle and when she got to their home, Belle, who is the same colour and height as Poppy, immediately went over to a photograph of the late dog and stared at it for a few minutes, before climbing into her new bed.

Both dogs were treated by the same vet, despite being taken to two different surgeries

For Mrs Walton’s three children who were missing Poppy in their first Christmas without her, Belle has proved a very welcome addition to the family.

Dog rescue

Mrs Walton now wants to raise awareness of the sterling work dog wardens do at Medway Council.

“I think it’s easy for people to think it’s heartless having to put dogs down, but they have so many and really do everything to get them rehomed. It’s not the horrible situation a lot of people may think it is.

“I can’t thank the dog wardens enough; they were really on the ball getting back to me on everything and did all they could to help get Belle a home, rather than have to put her down.”

To find out about the council’s work with stray dogs, which includes a special fostering service where people can temporarily rehome an animal until a permanent home is found and a free microchipping service, go to medway.gov.uk/crimenuisanceandsafety/dogs.aspx

The council also runs a Facebook page where pictures of strays are posted as soon as they are found at facebook.com/mcstraydogs.