THE only thing Shadow wants in the new year is a new fore leg.

But before his wish will come true, he needs £7,000 by the end of January.

The 14-month-old German shepherd was found caught in a trap in Spain after being abandoned by his owners.

He was released from the trap and taken to a rescue centre – but sadly his fore paw, which was badly damaged during the ordeal, could not be saved.

And if Sara May, from Totton, had not adopted him in October and brought him home to the UK, the centre would have put him down.

Now she hopes to raise enough money for him to have a new prosthetic leg.

The leg will be made especially for him by Noel Fitzpatrick, the only vet in the UK who works with prosthetics.

It will not only mean he can run, play and walk comfortably again, but it will reduce the strain on his back legs, fix his displaced hips and halt the arthritis which is beginning to develop.

Sara, 39, a courier, and her two sons, Brandon, 21, and Kyle, 20, share their small three-bedroom home in Bowater Way, with three dogs, Shadow, Tyson and Monster, two cats – Spud and Cat – and five rescued parrots.

“I don’t know what went on in his past but I took that chance and it was worth it,” Sara told the Daily Echo.

“He is just so cuddly. He is absolutely wonderful. He loves children and he loves people.

“He has to have this front leg otherwise he doesn’t have much of a happy life because his hips can’t take it because he only has the one front leg.

“We’re hoping this will take all of that extra strain from the back legs.

Shadow is one of 15 dogs Sara has rescued from Spain and re-homed since June, but she says Shadow will be staying with her.

“He was on one of the Facebook groups that I tend to rescue my dogs from. As he had half his leg chopped off I was the only one who came forward to take him on.

“I just thought he can’t stay there. If he stays in Spain he would have been put to sleep.

Unless they can find a permanent home they are put to sleep because they’ve got so many dogs over there.

“I’ve re-homed 15 dogs and five dogs are still in Europe.

Every one of them has a nice new home, which is fantastic but I won’t be doing any more because I’ve got Shadow to deal with now.”

Sara raised more than £1,500 within the first week of fundraising but she needs to find much more.

To help Shadow get his new leg, visit fnd.us/c/2f8lf.

Daily Echo: Dog needs £7,000 for a prosthetic leg