FATE was unkind to engineer Brian Bainbridge -- but it was downright cruel to crossbreed puppy Dot in her first few months of life.

In August 1997 Brian suffered an accident at work in which he injured his hand .

While he was receiving treatment, the owner of the small works in Bury where he had been employed announced his decision to close the business in December.

In November of that year, a fragile pup was found abandoned and shivering in a road in Green Haworth. Her skeletal frame was covered in mange and fleas but, worst of all, her front leg was horribly broken and deformed.

Brian's wife Gillian realised straight away that man and dog could help each other. After seeing an article in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph about the pitiful creature, she arranged a visit.

Brian, 60, of Royds Avenue, Accrington, recalled: "She was at a vet's in Clitheroe. She just jumped out of the cage and into my wife's arms. It was love at first sight."

They named the four-month-old puppy Dot, a reversal of the name of their much-loved dog who had died earlier in the year, aged 13. Gillian knew the partnership of Brian and Dot was meant to be.

"I knew Brian was going to be devastated at losing his job and I thought while he was convalescing and getting over the shock of being made redundant he had the time to spend exercising Dot's leg," she said.

"Her broken leg had been re-set but vets said it was nerve-damaged and unlikely to be used. She just dragged her foot."

Brian spent hours encouraging Dot to use her leg and one night, as he was tickling her toes, she flinched. He managed to coax her into putting her paw pad on the ground but his success was short-lived when her other front leg collapsed completely due to lack of nourishment when she was a pup.

Her injuries could have led to her having no quality of life, and in other circumstances she might have faced leg amputation or even death. Vets could provide only straight splints which were no good long-term as she needed to articulate the leg to promote muscle growth.

But Brian had years of engineering experience to draw on and built Dot two splints for her front legs, originally out of plastic wastepipe which he warmed in the oven until it was pliable and able to be shaped to her limbs.

Dot patiently allowed him to fit the splints, which he lined with bandages and foam to prevent them chafing. His skill also allowed him to work out how to hinge a section to support the front feet while allowing them to flex almost at right angles to the leg bones.

The splints were wrapped around Dot's legs with Velcro -- and the transformation was amazing.

"She runs around, jumps on and off the settee and up and down the banks," Gillian said. "She was wearing splints when we got her, so she knows nothing different. But she is as happy as they come and she can run like the best of them."

Now Brian replaces the splints every six months or so using plaster cast, making them waterproof so Dot can enjoy her daily walks. Brian said: "She is very well known round here and really likes children. If someone is pushing a pram she has to stop and have a look inside."

But that's not the end of Brian and Dot's tale. Brian is a tireless charity worker both for the RSPCA at Altham and the British Heart Foundation. Often he and Dot will go out in his car to collect items to sell at the BHF shop in Accrington, where Gillian works, and householders enjoy patting Dot and having a joke with Brian. He has also become a popular figure at the RSPCA animal home after responding to an advertisement for volunteers in October last year. The advertisement asked for people to help with the animals, but when he said he could help out in any way he found himself fixing hinges, opening locks and carrying out a range of handyman's jobs. Brian said: "Various traders have been very helpful and donated items or supplied them at cost, so we have saved quite a lot of money. It has been a bad year for animal sanctuaries because of foot and mouth.

"It's great working at the RSPCA. It's not hard physical work and if people want to go and walk dogs they will find a dog compatible with them.

"Earlier in the year a job wanted doing in the puppy pen -- a lock had jammed and the only way to open it was to crawl through the puppy pen. There were four puppies in the pen, and it took me a long time to do that job. Every pen I have been in, the dog inside has wanted to be talked to and cuddled.

"It is not what you are doing for the charities, it's what they are doing for you. I feel better as a result and I'm less stressed than when I was working. There are so many retired people out there who could use their skills to help others."