A Sunderland woman has spoken of the "heartbreaking" state of a pooch who was found at the side of the road before she was found by a charity and given to her to foster.

Kay Pillans, 61 from Boldon in Sunderland, took in the emergency placement pooch at the end of May after she was found in Washington near to the Peel Retail Park.

The Staffordshire bull terrier, who Kay later named Molly, was pictured by a member of the public looking extremely emaciated as some commenters suspected she had been abandoned or had been lost for a significant amount of time.

Read next: Digger the Darlington dog looking for his forever home

The Northern Echo: Molly the dog.Molly the dog. (Image: KAY PILLANS)

Following the post, Molly was picked up by Sunderland charity Happier Days For Strays and was later placed with fosterer Kay as an emergency placement.

Kay has since been posting updates of Molly in a local Facebook group, as her story has captured the hearts of the community who have been keeping up with her progress.

Kay told the Echo: “For a day and a half every time I looked at her, I just cried. She was too weak to climb in the car, so she wasn’t on the seat, she lay on the floor.

“It was just heart breaking to see her. You could see every rib she had, she had an ear infection and it’s only now that her hair has started to grow back. I had never seen anything like it.”

Since fostering her, Kay has described Molly as “so loving” but admitted she has no idea where she came from as she only knows how to answer her name.

This confused Kay as vet estimates say Molly is aged from 4-6, leading to many questions about who previously owned Molly and where she came from.

The Northern Echo:

Read next:

Get more from The Northern Echo with a Premium Plus Digital Subscription for as little as £1.50 a week

She said: “I took her in, and she’s just been perfect from day one. I have grandchildren and she loves them – she loves everyone she meets.

“To think where she has come from, she’s just so, so, loving.”

Molly will now remain with Kay until she is ready to go to her forever home which could be in a matter of weeks.

To find out more about Happier Days for Strays and possibly give Molly a home, click here.