A WOMAN went to Mexico and found a holiday romance with a difference with a badly-neglected dog called Nicita.
Pet-lover Marion McClintock fell for the abandoned Labradoodle after visiting an animal refuge in the tourist resort of Cancun.
Now the 43-year-old is set to fly Nicita home to Scotland to be her pet.
“I suppose you could say our eyes met across a crowded room and it was love at first sight,” laughed Marion, who is so smitten she is raising money to fly Nicita to Scotland.
“She’s such a sweetheart. She’s got a lovely nature and is very friendly and playful, even though she’s obviously had a traumatic life.”
The dog, a Labrador crossed with a poodle, was abandoned by her Mexican owners. All of her hair had fallen out and her body was covered in blood-red sores.
When mum-of-one Marion set eyes on her while on a two-week break with pal Lorraine Cairley in August, the worst of the wounds had cleared up but the sad-eyed dog still had no fur.
Heartbroken Marion and Lorraine immediately gave £100 to the centre, run by a local vet, to ensure Nicita would be looked after.
Marion, from Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow, has stayed in touch with Nicita and the centre, using Facebook to get updates on her progress.
Now, after months of recovery, Nicita is back to full health.
But the rescue centre has no room for her and there’s no-one in Cancun willing to take her in.
So council worker Marion, who volunteers at an SSPCA rescue centre in her spare time, is going to fly her 5,000 miles from Cancun back to Scotland.
“Working in the rescue centre can make you slightly desensitised as you see so many animals in distress,” said Marion.
“But every now and then a dog comes along and melts your heart that’s what Nicita has done.
“I’ve just got to give her a home. I couldn’t bear it if she had to suffer again.
“She’s been through so much but she’s totally unscathed and such a loving dog.
“I’ll never forget the moment we walked into the centre.
“It was a run-down part of town, away from all the tourist bits which are very plush.
“There were about 15 dogs, all in various states of bad health and malnutrition.
“Lorraine burst into tears. Because I help out at the SSPCA centre in Dumbarton, I had an idea what to expect, but it was still upsetting.
“It’s been a bit difficult communicating with the centre in Mexico because I don’t speak Spanish and they don’t speak English. But we manage somehow.
“I’ve been wanting to take a dog in for a while but I never expected to go to Cancun and fall in love with one!”
Marion and a group of friends who run a search team for missing dogs have set up a Just Giving page for anyone who wants to help raise the £2,000 required to fly Nicita to Scotland and pay for vet’s costs.
Her fundraising page is at crowdfunding.justgiving.com/nicita
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