THE young couple who rescued a dehydrated and bedraggled dog from a Greek holiday island have had to postpone a fundraising event for the shelter which helped them bring their new pet home.

Charlotte Hargreaves, 21, and Oliver Garside-Fox fell in love with the black Labrador-whippet cross named Luna who snuggled up under the sun-lounger next to theirs on the beach on the island of Halkidiki.

On Sunday they had planned to hold a Sponsored Dog Walk to raise money for The Better Dogs Hotel in Thessaloniki which assisted in getting her fed,vaccinated and microchipped ready to be brought home to the UK.

The young couple are setting up home together with Luna and their existing dogs Koko and Leia.

Sadly all three pets contracted the highly-contagious kennel cough illness last week and the walk in Blackburn's Witton Park had to be cancelled for fear of infecting other dogs taking part.

Now the couple are looking for a new at before Christmas to reschedule to event.

And they want other dog owners to be on the look out for symptoms of the infection which is currently prevalent in the Blackburn area.

Miss Hargreaves said: "It was a disappointing decision to postpone the Sponsored Dog Walk.

"We have not yet agreed a new date as it depends on the recovery of the dogs.

"We hope to find a new date before Christmas and definitely this year,"

The new date will be on their Loving Luna page (www.lovinglunauk.wordpress.com) and via Facebook @lovinglunauk.

Symptoms of kennel cough include:a harsh, dry cough; retching/gagging; sneezing/snorting; vomiting; runny nose; lethargy; loss of appetite and a low fever.