A STREET dog abandoned in the Azores is settling in to a new life in West Somerset after being rescued by kind-hearted holidaymaker Roxy Morris.

Mongrel Cindy was bleeding, thin and half bald when Roxy first saw her hiding among sea defences close to her holiday hotel.

Today she is a picture of health and happiness after Roxy spent thousands of pounds paying for her to be rabies checked, quarantined and flown to the UK.

She arrived in Minehead last week and is refusing to let Roxy out of her sight.

"I called her Cindy because she was like a little cinder when I first saw her, but I'm starting to think I should have called her Shadow!" Roxy told the Free Press.

"I didn't think she would remember me, but she did and she hasn't let me out of her sight since.

"I'm sure she's thinking that I'm going to up and leave her again."

Roxy first spotted Cindy last June when she was on a whale-watching trip to the Azores.

She saw a group of children chasing something among huge concrete sea defence structures and realised it was a small, terrified dog.

On returning to her hotel, vegetarian Roxy promptly ordered a slap-up meal of chicken, which she took back to the beach for the dog.

But instead of heading for the meat, the dog went straight to Roxy and her fate was sealed.

"I originally thought I would be able to find the equivalent of the RSPCA on the island and that I would pay to have her spayed and then find a home for her.

"I got in touch with Animal Protection Azores and they put me in touch with this wonderful vet called Rita," Roxy said.

The pair were convinced Cindy had recently had puppies but, despite a number of searches, no trace of them could be found.

"We think she may have been thrown out once she had had the puppies, but we just don't know," Roxy said.

Cindy was taken in for blood tests and spent her quarantine in the Azores before flying to the UK last Wednesday.

Since her arrival, she has been visited by a succession of new friends and well-wishers bearing gifts - although she has yet to strike up a friendship with Roxy's 16-year-old Siamese cat, despite the feline's best efforts!

"Cindy has taken it all in her stride, she just loves people and you can't believe after all the torment she has been through that she can be so good.

"She was a grotty little thing and was in an awful state when I found her, but she's definitely got a poodle temperament - what the other bit is, God only knows!" Roxy said.

Photo: Steve Guscott