Strictly Come Dancing's Karen Hauer saved a dog left to die at the side of the road

Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer has told how she saved her beloved pet dog from a terrible fate after she was "left to die" at the side of a road.

The BBC One contest's professional dancer is the proud owner of four rescue dogs and shared the heartbreaking story of how one of them came to live with her.

Hauer, 41, is supporting Petplan's Pet Awards and said that she had even nominated her own dog Phoebe for the category of Survivor Pet of the Year because she had overcome so much.

She told The Express: "You know, she's been through so much. She has three legs. She was run over by a car when she was only six weeks old.

"[She was] just left to die on the side of the road, and to come back and you know, have surgery and be fully abled...

"She's resilient and incredible and has shown me so much about just being a kick*** but at the same time being so loving and just strong."

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Hauer, who was previously married to Strictly co-star Kevin Clifton, added that being a dog owner had helped her as much as she helped her rescue pets.

She talked about how much their "unconditional love" had meant to her "at my lowest" and said that their need to be taken out for a walk had helped her to be able to push through difficult days.

The dancer is a regular fixture in the Strictly cast, but suffered a knee injury last year that left her shaken.

She recently told The Sun: "It was one of the scariest things that I've ever had to go through and the one thing that I didn't want to get was surgery.

"Having that injury and not being able to be on the dancefloor, I took it as a reset."

But she added: "But I would never retire from dancing - if I have two broken knees I would still go on the dancefloor."

Hauer is set to compete in her 12th season of Strictly this autumn as the longest-running female pro in the show.