Woman accused of abandoning dog at railway station with suitcase of belongings says she has done no wrong
The person who left a dog at a railway station in Scotland with a suitcase of his belongings has come forward and explained her side of the story.
Fin Rayner spoke with the Daily Record and claimed she did nothing wrong when she abandoned the male Shar Pei pup Kai, whose name is actually Pluto, tied to a railing outside Ayr station on January 2.
The 39-year-old woman from Aberdeen said she travelled to Ayr with the intention of buying the dog after seeing him advertised on the classifieds website Gumtree.
However, Rayner said the sale quickly took a wrong turn as she saw that the dog the man brought was not the same as the one advertised.
"The guy rushed out with a food chest and lead on the dog. But I could see there was something up because he was very skinny," Rayner explained.
"I said I wanted to take the dog for a walk, so he asked me for £150 as a deposit in case I didn't come back. Then I saw him tearing off in his car. I phoned and said 'You better come back for your dog.' He never turned up."
According to Rayner, she panicked as she had to catch the last train home because her nine-year-old daughter, whom she had brought with her, suffers from asthma.
"I thought I'd take the dog to Aberdeen but my son phoned and said the photo from the ad was an American picture from 2005," Rayner told the Daily Record. "I said to a member of staff it was somebody else's dog. I said, 'I'm just going to tie him up out there,' and I did that."
The woman added, "What about me and my daughter, what we had to go through? I told somebody, I made sure the dog was safe."
The abandoned dog, who has been in the care of the Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) since he was found, has had offers from people all over the world willing to take him.
Donations also continue to pour in for the crossbreed dog, who needs an operation on his eyelids. The JustGiving page set up for Kai has now raised over £4,800.