A stranger who saw a dog run over by a car at the Orbital Shopping Park has taken it upon herself to fundraise the pet’s surgery.

On Monday, July 22, Marley the mini Dachshund ran out of his family car and was caught under the wheel of another vehicle.

Vickie Benham was so moved by what she saw that she has been supporting the single-mum owner raise money for essential vet bills.

She said: “I’m just a big animal person. Just to see that, it shook me. I would hope that if I was in that situation, that someone would help me.

“She's a single mum with two kids who has paid all the money she possibly can and it's just not enough.”

The two-year-old dog is owned by Talita Miranda and daughter Victoria, who were visiting McDonald’s at the time.

Victoria described the dog running out of their car, which it would not usually do.

“And then before you know that cars just came and they stopped that a little bit too late," said Vickie, who was watching.

“It was horrible."

The dog was caught under the car’s back wheel and broke its pelvis in three places. The vets are worried that a fracture close to his spine could have long-term effects.

Victoria says the driver did stop and agreed to pay half the vet bills. But she explained that apart from paying the dog’s initial overnight stay of £400, the driver has become uncontactable.

They are now facing a £1,500 bill for three lots of surgeries, as well as having already paid £1,500 for two sets of X-rays. The family’s GoFundMe page has a target of £1,800.

Meanwhile, Marley does not eat and spends most of his time wrapped in a blanket.

Victoria said: “The dog is in a lot of pain. He's constantly on morphine. He can’t walk.

“We’re so grateful for Vicky because she is the only one that is helping us. She even came to our house to see how Marley was because she was crying when she saw him get run over.”

“Marley is very kind, friendly, loves other dogs, loves to jump around, play around.

“But after the incident he just sits and sits, hasn't eaten at all, drinks a lot of water but hasn't eaten at all.”

You can see Marley's GoFundMe here.