A WOMAN who rescued a dog from kennels says she is distraught after it was seized by a dog warden and taken back.

Barbara McVety says she will have to pay £53.02 for the first day's fees at Aspen Valley kennels, in Oswaldtwistle, to retrieve Matty the dog, plus another £5.34 per day after that. A portion of the fees - £25 - is a fine imposed by Hyndburn Council

Miss McVety left the grey, white and black terrier tethered outside Accrington Library while she went inside. When she came out the four-year-old dog was gone.

The 56-year-old woman has a hearing problem and relies on Matty to alert her when the telephone or doorbell rings.

"I have been taking him with me more and more wherever I go to make him more sociable," she said.

After tying him to a bench in Church Street, Accrington, Miss McVety went into the library to do some research.

"I was quite a long time, I must have been in there two hours but I did pop out to see him twice and take him for a walk around the churchyard," she said.

"When I came out I was standing there absolutely dumbfounded."

Frantic, Miss McVety reported the matter to the police and called them twice more throughout the course of Friday night.

That night she went back to the spot and put up posters asking for help. The following day she called the kennels to ask if they had taken him in.

"When they said they had him, I was delighted and said I would come and get him. But then they said I would have to pay these fees.

"It's absolutely ridiculous. The dog warden shouldn't have untied him."

Miss MvVety called the environmental health emergency number and the police, but was told it was nothing to do with them.

"I'm a bereaved person and he has become my ears, my companion and he's a brilliant little guard dog. I'm on benefit, I'm absolutely broke. I'm on anti-depressants and struggling to cope as it is.

"The dog would have been put down if I hadn't taken him. If it comes to the worst and they keep him and put him down I can't imagine what I would do."

Gordon Allen, owner of the kennels, said: "The dog warden had been inundated with calls. I was told he had been tied up outside for at least three hours with a muzzle on it. We keep dogs as long as we possibly can. We have very few dogs that have to go to the vet.

"We have been contracted by the local authority. Our hands are tied once the paperwork is filled in. The only way I can waive a charge is if I am told to by the council."

Steve Todd, chief environmental services officer for Hyndburn Council, said there were at least three calls complaining about the dog and it was thought to have been abandoned.

"The dog warden in my view quite rightly went and removed the dog. We do get people who will take a dog somewhere, tie it up and leave it. It was an irresponsible action to take the dog somewhere and leave it there for two hours. The council's policy is that there are no exceptions to the payments."