A dog lover who fell for a blind mutt in desperate need of a new home is doing a skydive to raise funds for the charity which brought them together.

Julie Drewitt, of Station Road, Bluntisham, heard about Blind Dog Rescue UK just over a year ago, had a look at its website and was drawn to Yotzo, but not for the usual reasons.

“I saw his face and thought no one would want him. He had just had an eye removed, he looked awful.

“I thought I could look after him and give him a home.”

It turned out that Yotzo, who was in kennels in Bulgaria, had been severely abused, said Mrs Drewitt. “He had gun shot pellets in him. He had been beaten. He was totally blind.”

Three weeks after spotting him online, Yotzo was brought to England to his new home with Mrs Drewitt, husband Darren and their two dogs Belle and Poppy.

“At first he was petrified. He just froze and his tail was clamped down. He took quite a while to settle and trust us.”

Being blind, Yotzo depends on his sense of smell and quickly mapped out his new surroundings and was soon sniffing around the house and garden.

“He’s just a little dream,” said Mrs Drewitt, who now has a fourth dog, an English setter she brought back from Corfu. “He melts my heart or astounds me every day.”

In order to give other dogs like Yotzo an opportunity of a good home, Mrs Drewitt decided to raise funds for Blind Dog Rescue UK, which transports blind dogs to homes in Britain from countries such as Romania or Spain.

“The charity does such an incredible job,” she said. “No one likes to see dogs in a shelter and some of them in other countries are horrendous. They are like a death camp. Blind Dog Rescue UK gives them the opportunity of a happy life.”

Mrs Drewitt, who has a son, Josh, aged 20, will leap from a plane above Chatteris airfield on February 8. To support her, go to mydonate.bt.com/events/juliesskydive.

INFORMATION: For more on Blind Dog Rescue UK, visit the website

blinddogrescueuk.webs.com.