Animal lover Izzie Blanden has been left with huge vet's bills after taking in a rescue dog from Romania.
Her act of kindness began when she came across the organisation Pawprints2Freedom and agreed to take in a three year old dog she called Branna, paying a £255 adoption fee.
Pawprints, which is not a charity or limited company, says it informed Izzie that Branna was suffering from the parasite heartworm .
“When Ms Blanden contacted us to adopt the dog, she was made aware that she had tested positive for heartworm and was undergoing treatment,” said spokeswoman Catherine Reid.
“She was given the option at that time, should she wish to do so, to withdraw from the adoption, but she chose to proceed.”
She added that Izzie had broken the terms of her contract by having her treated in this country without authorisation by Pawprints: “We were a non-profit making organisation and answerable to our trustees and donators, that I could not retrospectively authorise her bill.”
Izzie, from Hove in East Sussex, insists that she was only told about Branna's condition after paying Pawprints, and the organisation “played down” the seriousness of the illness and she was told it was in its early stages and “100% treatable”.
Branna was also found to be suffering from Lyme's disease, but Pawprints says: "Branna had shown
no indications of this, and it is perfectly feasible that she has contracted this is her current environment,
Despite requests, it never provided the report from the vet in Romania to Izzie, or even the vet's contact details.
"I tried for three days to get Branna’s original heartworm blood tests results," Izzie says.
Her own vet's bill has now reached more than £900 and she's trying to raise donations for further the treatment through the crowdfunding site GoFundMe .
“I think I’ve followed my contract to the letter,” she says.
“They say you should register with a vet soon after the dog's arrival and get them checked, so that’s what I did."
Izzie, a former animal welfare worker for her local council, insists that she made clear to Pawprints that she would not be able to afford expensive bills.
"I told them about recently losing Flossie, my old Collie, and having only just recovered my finances after some big vets bills in December.
“I don’t earn much and now I've found myself with an overdraft to pay off.
“I am so appalled and disappointed by their attitude.”
Pawprints2Freedom was founded by 28-year-old Rebecca Smyth of Epsom, Surrey, who regularly posts dogs for adoption on Facebook (above). The office details in York that it puts on its website is a virtual address.
Last year it applied to register with the Charity Commission but was turned down.
The Commission said: “We have been unable to register Pawprints2Freedom as a charity. There is a strict legal test for charitable status and this application did not demonstrate their purpose was consistent with a charitable purpose in animal welfare.”
The plight of Branna prompted Izzie's MP, Peter Kyle , to write to Environment Secretary Michael Gove.
"I believe that Ms Blanden's experience raises wider concerns about the screening process for the movement of commercial dogs, particularly regarding the risk of disease inadvertently being brought into the UK," he wrote.
"As you will know, there are many diseases prevalent in mainland Europe that aren't present in the UK, and whilst I understand that any dog coming from EU member states must be microchipped, and have vaccinations against both rabies and tapeworms, there are many other diseases which could also pose a risk."
He went on: "I urge you to consider imposing further restrictions on organisations which re-home rescue animals from outside the UK, in order to protect those adopting the animals and safeguard our population of both animals and humans from diseases from abroad."
Izzie has created a Facebook page telling Branna's story here .