Dog used for target practice by children rehomed in Scotland

A neglected dog that was repeatedly shot by children armed with BB guns is preparing to travel more than 1,500 miles to start a new life in the UK.

Bella is a Shar Pei who was facing death in a Hungarian kill shelter after two years of appalling treatment.

But her run of bad luck has hopefully come to an end after a small Scottish charity stepped in to save her.

The Shar Pei Rescue of Scotland, which helps dogs across Europe, will be bringing Bella to the UK around 7 November.

After going on a 1,000-mile trip to Calais, she will cross the English Channel to Dover before going into kennels for 48 hours to comply with regulations.

She will then head to Gina McCallum, who runs the rescue centre in East Kilbride where she will continue her rehabilitation before being rehomed.

Ms McCallum said: “We do what we do because we love the breed. These dogs in the EU are subjected to abuse, neglect, cruelty and if they are not ‘pulled by rescue’ they suffer the most barbaric deaths in these kill shelters.”

Bella was found on a gypsy site in Hungary where she was being used as target practice with a BB gun by children on the camp.

She has had surgery to remove all of the pellets and her skin is in very poor condition because of the neglect.

The SPRS has set up a You Caring page to help fund ongoing treatment for poorly dogs like Bella who they rescue from the UK and Europe.

Bella is currently on a grain-free diet and will require twice-weekly medicated baths for the foreseeable to cure her skin problem.

When she arrives in the UK, she will need an entropion operation on her eyes and will also be spayed before being rehomed.

The Shar Pei is one of the world’s oldest dog breeds – but during the 1960s and 1970s it was nearly extinct under China’s communist government.

It is thought there were as few as 12 left in the world in the early 1970s.

While numbers have now increased, unscrupulous breeders have caused a number of them to suffer from health issues affecting their skin, eyes and ears.

As a result, neglected dogs quickly find themselves in an appalling condition, leaving charities to pick up the pieces.

Volunteers at the SPRS have spent the past five years helping unwanted and mistreated dogs from the UK and Europe. They recently rescued their 600th Shar Pei and many were near death when they were taken in.