Natalie McCarron decided to give Lala the mongrel terrier a second chance after reading about her plight on social media.
A dog lover has spent £1000 to bring a bullied stray all the way from Thailand to Scotland.
Natalie McCarron decided to give Lala the mongrel terrier a second chance after reading about her plight on social media.
Lala had been taken in by the Bodhi dog sanctuary, which Natalie had visited while on holiday in Phuket.
Actress Natalie, 33, said: “I’ve been to Thailand quite a few times and helped out there.
“I saw the work they do first-hand and I responded to a Facebook post to offer Lala a home in Scotland.
“She’s so gentle and she was getting picked on by the other dogs.
“Every night she would get attacked. Staff were really worried she would be mauled to death. It was really urgent to get her out of there.”
A rescue plan swung into place. Natalie met volunteers from the sanctuary in Belgium who flew 6000 miles with Lala from Thailand.
She drove Lala to her new home in Shettleston, Glasgow, stopping in Wales to drop off another dog.
It is estimated that 8.5million abandoned dogs roam Thailand’s streets looking for food.
The Buddhist country’s authorities do not believe in putting down the animals, so many end up starving
to death.
Others are maimed after being hit by cars or are smuggled across the border to use as meat in Vietnam.
Natalie said she has been challenged about why she didn’t adopt a dog locally.
She said: “Quite a lot of people have said to me, ‘We’ve got the Dog’s Trust in Shettleston, why are you not getting a dog from there?’
“I wanted to bring a dog over from a part of the world where they have nothing. I’ve not regretted it.
“I sometimes look at Lala and feel like if she could talk, she would just be saying, ‘Thank you.’
“She looks at me with such gratitude that it’s really beautiful.” DR – EP