Just four months ago, loveable mutt Maisie was on the brink of death.

She had been run over and abandoned with terrible injuries, including a shattered hind leg.

Now, thanks to the kindness of strangers, the 19-month-old border collie cross is on the mend after a series of operations to fix her broken limbs.

Her right hind leg was so severely broken there was a 3.5cm gap between two parts of the bone and her other hind leg was dislocated.

Fortunately a nurse at the Celia Hammond Trust, which runs a centre for sick and injured pets in High Street, Wadhurst, near Crowborough, found Maisie and took her in.

But staff needed thousands of pounds to pay for more essential surgery and appealed to readers of The Argus for help.

Maisie's story and her bright and cheery nature touched people's hearts and the money soon came flooding in.

Celia Hammond, who runs the trust, said: "After the appeal in The Argus we got the money within a week and now have enough to pay for the second operation so we are over the moon."

Following a four-hour operation in which a circular metal cage was built round Maisie's mangled right leg, she is recovering in one of the trust's centres in Lewisham, south-east London.

Ms Hammond said: "The vet said he was reasonably happy with how the operation went. Maisie will have to wear the cage round her leg for the next three months and it has to be adjusted daily to fix the gap between the broken bones."

Maisie will still need more surgery to repair her dislocated leg.

But Ms Hammond is confident in the dog's ability to come through the painful experience.

She said: "Maisie needs another operation on her other leg so we are talking about at least another five or six months before we even start to talk about getting her a home.

"She's still a really bright, brave dog.

"With another animal you might think twice about putting it through this surgery but Maisie is just happy all the time."

The trust now hopes to contact each person who donated money personally to pass on their heartfelt thanks.

Ms Hammond said: "We are writing to everyone who donated to thank them for their help but it was such a huge post bag it will take us a while."