and its supporters

Tragic: He had been tied up so tightly it had left him with a gaping wound on his neck. Despite the teams best efforts, Bruno did not survive the surgery to save his life

A 16-year-old boy is said to have attacked him with an axe, cutting off all four legs at different points.

Some of the dogs we find are no more than a bag of bones, their ribs pressing through what remains of their coats – it is pitiful…so cruel. Charity co-founder Alison Standbridge

'One was hanging off,' Alison said, 'He had been there for 24 hours by the time our rescuers arrived and took him to the vet. Locals had fed him with bread.

'He is now recovering with four uneven stumps healing well. He is avery gentle and loving male, around five years old.

'We hope that he may be adopted but we are making plans for his future life and he has been measured for a cart that will raise him off the floor and give him a chance of a normal life.

'Our rescuers here in Romania, along with the vet, are talking to prosthetics manufacturers in the UK with the aims of fundraising for these and he should then be able to lead a reasonably normal life.'

Uninhabitable: One shelter the team visited was next to a dump, and the water was polluted and not fit to drink

Brutal: Officials say that the equivalent of millions of pounds have been spent on dealing with the problem of strays but critics claim it is inhumane,