A NORTH YORKSHIRE woman has helped set up a charity to rescue abandoned dogs in Easter Europe.

Liz Day, from Crambe,near Malton, first became aware of the suffering of animals in Romania four years ago and with her friend Colleen Stead, from York, the pair thought of ways they could help.

Liz said: “Initially, this was in the nature of making regular donations, and then hearts began to rule heads and in due course the first Romanian dog, a pretty fox-like bitch named Ginger, arrived in the UK and came to live with us and the resident dogs in Crambe."

Other dogs followed and they quickly realised that to help effectively they needed to become more organised, and involve more of their dog-loving friends, and Rags To Riches was born.

“It shocked us to find that dogs in Romania are basically regarded as vermin, and that there are no anti-cruelty laws to protect them,” she said.

“Luckily we found our way to a handful of very trustworthy Romanian rescuers who we know passionately wish to help.”

Much of their activity is geared towards supporting the spay-and-neuter campaigns, but some dogs are also rescued.

Go to rags-2-riches.co.uk