Destined for a dinner plate in Hanoi

THE small black puppy was a pitiful sight. Just two months old, it had spent its short life with its back legs tied together to stop it running away while it was fattened up to be eaten.

Little wonder, then, that Alex MacDonald, 37, from Birmingham, felt he had to help. Just one thing stood in the way: the dog (inset) was in Hanoi, Vietnam, where Alex, who was taking a break from his aviation career, was travelling.

However, he was not deterred. Alex says: ‘I’d made some friends there and went to see one who had been caring for a badly abused puppy. Dogs are treated as food in Vietnam, so it was probably once kept in terrible conditions.

‘I knew I wanted to help this little dog. There was no life in him. His ears were down and he was just lying there with his legs splayed out. It was heartbreaking to see.

‘I gave him some food and water and for the first time, his tail started to wag.’ Over the coming weeks and months in summer 2017, Alex nursed the dog, which he named Max, until it could walk again, even getting the animal physio treatment. Only then did he begin the process of bringing him home to Britain.

Many hurdles stood in Max’s way — but a determined Alex spent £500 on blood tests to prove Max, who is a mixture of Husky and German Shepherd, did not have rabies. Once he got the all-clear, he could bypass the fourmonth quarantine period. After other vaccinations and microchipping, Max was ready to fly from Hanoi to Heathrow to begin his new life.

Despite spending almost £2,000, Alex says Max (with him, above) is worth every penny. ‘He’s a very different dog from when I found him. He loves to walk, to sit with me, and sleeps in my room. He does, however, suffer from separation anxiety and is like my shadow, but I don’t mind. I would be lost without him.’