Marine saves dog from torture in Afghanistan

An abandoned and tortured puppy has found safety in London after it was rescued from Afghanistan by a Royal Marine.

Commando Alex Mutch, 33, found the dog in Sangin with his ears and tail cut off last year. He was so worried about the animal, now named Dave, that he agreed to swap him for a packet of flares so that he could take him back to base.

When he told his sister that the dog would be shot when he left Afghanistan, she decided to set up a campaign to bring him to Britain Heather, 34, set up a Just Giving page and raised more than £4,000 to fly him home. With the help of animal charity Nowzad, which saves stray and abandoned animals in Afghanistan and Iraq, Dave was flown to Britain and was released from quarantine last month.

The marine said: "I was on a police mentoring team in Sangin and they brought the dog in one day looking all skinny with no tail and no ears and the guys were kicking and shouting at him.

"I thought I've got to get him away from this so I swapped him for a packet of flares.

"He was really vicious first of all because he was used to being mistreated. But after a couple of days he was all right."

He added: "He was going to be our little troop dog while we were there but when I told my sister that he would probably be shot when we left she decided to set up a campaign to save him."

The dog is living in East Dulwich with Ms Mutch while her brother finishes his training in Plymouth.

She said: "Dave gets some strange looks when he goes out because he has no ears. It's likely that they were cut off with a knife to be used for fighting.

"He's a very loyal dog but when Alex is here he doesn't want to know me. He knows Alex saved him."