Collie put to sleep following suspected case of Alabama rot in Chorley

Sonia Green, owner of the veterinary surgery, told the Guardian how staff at her practice discovered multiple wounds on the dog.

“The owners brought their dog in with what they thought was an abscess under his armpit.

“He was sedated and as we were clipping him up we noticed a lesion then we found another and also some bruising so we ended up clipping him completely.

“It smelt like the flesh was rotting away, it was hideous.

“Alabama rot is so rare that we had to rule out absolutely everything else first.

“But the blood tests made us suspicious that it was Alabama rot so we took samples of the lesions and sent them off to America for testing.”

Alabama rot is an often fatal condition in dogs. Initial symptoms are skin lesions on the legs, chest and abdomen before appearing in the renal area.

“It was literally eating away at his flesh,” said Sonia, who says the results from America could take up to three weeks to come back.

“The owners were very very responsible here, they brought Indy in immediately.

“There are eight and a half million dogs in the UK and since 2012 there have only been 129 cases of Alabama rot.”

Sonia urged residents not to worry.