AN abandoned dog, left for dead in a derelict Darwen house, has been saved thanks to Lancashire Evening Telegraph readers' donations.

Six-month-old Dandy, a Jack Russell/border collie cross, was found by a 15-year-old boy who heard the dog whimpering when he was retrieving a football from a garden in Cavendish Street.

Kathy Walton, of Pet Rehome in Bradshaw, Bolton, said: "I was at the house at the time, purely by coincidence, and the poor thing was in a terrible state.

"He had been sleeping in his own vomit and his leg was in a terrible mess. It looked like he had been beaten and left for dead."

Less than one month later, following a plea for donations to pay for a £1,000 operation, Dandy had his leg amputated.

Kathy said: "Dandy is doing extremely well now and we would like to thank all the readers for their kind generosity. Thanks to them Dandy is doing really well and he's starting to realise that not all people are cruel."