Miracle the dog saved from dinner plate

Matted and diseased, he was one of thousands of animals snared in Thailand’s illegal meat trade, likely to end up on a dinner plate.

But after dog-lover Amanda Leask spotted a picture of him on Facebook, his fate took a dramatic turn for the better.

Mrs Leask – who races Siberian huskies and Scandinavian hounds – will pick him up near London next week before giving him a new life.

Miracle, a “Thai mix” dog, will arrive at Waverley Station on the sleeper train with Mrs Leask on April 5. The 44-year-old said she wanted to raise awareness about the plight of dogs targeted in illegal meat trades in Thailand and Romania. She has been passionate about the issue since reading that Thai dogs are often stolen and beaten to death, before being smuggled to Vietnam via Laos to be sold as meat.

Puppies are bundled into lorries or sheds and mixed with adult dogs – and often eaten by the older ones because they are so hungry.

Mrs Leask, who is originally from the Capital, said: “I really feel that Miracle’s story is one that can front any campaign.”

The first picture she saw of Miracle, taken by another rescue campaigner, showed him hanging from a truck. He looked close to death, but opened his eyes when the flash went off. Miracle has since been given a thorough vet check.

His health has improved so dramatically that he is almost unrecognisable.

Mrs Leask said: “His story is so harrowing that I think he is an ambassador against the dog meat trade. It was more shocking than most I have seen.”

Miracle will join the 37 other dogs, including four Romanian rescue dogs, which she and husband Tobias currently have at their home near Inverness.