Poodle cross Elsie was taken in by RSPCA Sussex North & Brighton Branch after she was abandoned, tied up at the gates of the Brighton Animal Centre in Patcham, on 3 February.
Enquiries made by RSPCA officers traced her previous owner and her microchip showed she’d been imported into the UK from Spain, possibly as a rescued street dog. Her previous owners hadn’t been able to cope with her health problems and tests soon revealed that she was suffering from leishmaniasis.
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease found in parts of Europe and spread by sand flies which are not present in the UK.