As I was walking along the Żebbuġ countryside, I could not believe what I saw. A pathetic looking pug was struggling to stand up and collapsing each time. She was in a pitiful state, her eyes were horribly swollen, I doubt whether she could see much, her back legs were very bent, her nails were about three inches long and curled under and she was skin and bones.

What was I to do? How could I just turn a blind eye and leave her there? I tried calling the 24-hour emergency veterinary service but calls from mobile phones do not get through. I called the SPCA but only got the answering machine; this was at about 5.30 p.m.

Luckily I had a cloth bag with me, so I put her in it and took her home. She licked my hand as though to say "thank you" for helping me. I managed to get in touch with Annette Borg who was my only hope. I took the little dog to her clinic, and she tried her best to help her. A blood test was taken and next day it was confirmed that the dog had a very bad case of sand fly. Sadly she had to be put down because of the very poor condition she was in.

I have been told that sometimes these dogs are kept in cages just for breeding, and that might have been the case of poor "Puggie" as we called her, hence the reason for her leg muscles not working. She was probably thrown out when she got sick. Poor little Puggie is now better off out of her misery caused by utterly selfish and heartless people.

I look forward to the day we will have a proper animal emergency service running, where we can call an ambulance from mobile phones, and have after care provided, as at the moment the situation is still very desperate.