Cancer-stricken dog on the mend thanks to almost £10,000 in donations

Border collie, Sky, 10, is now recovering at his Seaham home following the operation to remove around half of his lower jaw.

His owners, Gordon and Judith MacPherson, set up a funding page to raise cash towards the costly surgery, as they could only claim £2,000 from the pet's insurance, and were left 'overwhelmed' when the cash started to pour in from all over the world.

Gordon, 62, said within half a day there was more than £5,000 in the pot.

The dad-of-four, has owned collies all his life and is a member of several groups dedicated to border collies, so when news of Sky's sarcoma spead, everyone wanted to help.

Gordon, who lived most of his life in Easington, said: "We were overwhelmed. We are so, so grateful to everyone that has helped. Both me and Judith would like to thank them from the bottom of our hearts, we just can't thank them enough.

"Sky is family to us, I would have taken out a loan or anything I needed to do to fund the surgery, but thanks to such generosity I don't have to."

As well as the donations, vet specialists, Wear Referrals, capped the cost of the treatment at £11,000, when in fact the bill came to more than £19,000.

Gordon, who has himself organised fund-raising activities for other people's sick pets, said any money left over will go towards other poorly dogs.

The East Shore Village family now want to raise awareness of mouth cancer in dogs, after being told one in five develop it.

Gordon said he first noticed a small lump on Sky's lip about six weeks ago and took him to the vet, where he got antibiotics.

He said: "Nothing happened and the lump grew to about half the size of a golf ball. I took him back to the vet, who was very concerned and referred him to the specialist.

"They told us it was sarcoma and he was going to lose half of his bottom jaw. It was terrble, we just broke out hearts."

However, after his major operation and several small procedures, Sky is now back home with his family and it is looking very positive that all the cancer has been removed and he will recover well.

Gordon, who has two other border collies, three-year-old Hemp, who is Sky's son, and Bobby, four, said: "He is getting used to eating and drinking with just half a bottom jaw and is doing well.

"We really want to raise awareness of mouth cancer in dogs and urge people to look out for it. If I hadn't taken Sky straight to the vet it could easily have been too late."

Anyone who would like to add to the fund-raising should visit https://www.gofundme.com/skys-medical-expences