Bank manager Angela Roberts has welcomed home the dog she rescued from a Bulgarian mountainside after it spent six months in quarantine.

Two-year-old Hara, who Mrs Roberts saw chained up miles from any human habitation, is settling in well to life in Pinetum Close, Devizes.

Mrs Roberts, who is with Lloyds Bank in Devizes, and her husband Pete were on a skiing holiday in Bulgaria earlier this year when they came across Hara.

She said: “I saw this dog chained up on her own in the middle of nowhere. I took off my skis and went up to her and she was just the biggest and cuddliest of bears and was so pleased to see us.”

The couple visited Hara, a Siberian Husky, every day of their stay at the ski resort and when it came to time to return home, Mrs Roberts just could not leave behind Hara, whose name means joy.

She said: “I just couldn’t say goodbye. I asked a Bulgarian friend of ours to find out who owned her.

“It turned out to be gypsies who lived in the city 80 miles away.

“We paid £500 for her. We were just so desperate to get her off that mountain.”

But that was not the end of the expense. Mrs Roberts was quoted £2,500 to transport Hara to the UK.

However, she surfed the net and found a man who, for £1,000, drove Hara across Europe and into quarantine in Britain, which cost Mrs Roberts another £300.

Hara went into quarantine at the beginning of April and was released to Mr and Mrs Roberts last week.

Mrs Roberts said: “Hara has coped with it really well. She bounced up to me as soon as she saw me.”

There is some friction though from Gem, the Roberts’ Rottweiler-Labrador cross, who is also a rescue dog, but their other Siberian Husky, Blue, is very relaxed about the arrival of a third dog.

Mrs Roberts said: “I wouldn’t do it again, but I don’t regret getting Hara. I had no intention of having a third dog but I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her there.

“I can’t stand cruelty. Animals trust you and we owe it to them to live up to that trust. You can see it in their eyes.”