A couple have cancelled their wedding just four months before it was due to take place so they can plough their money into saving their cancer-stricken dog.

Lindsey Moore, 30, and Chris Bennett, 33, have been told to expect a bill of at least £20,000 for their beloved four-year-old black Labrador, Gus.

Their pet – which they say is like a child to them because they can’t have one of their own - started having problems walking last month and a CT scan showed he had a soft tissue sarcoma that can’t be operated on.

Instead, he will need radiotherapy, which costs £12,000 per course, and is having injections and other treatments that cost £1,200 per month.

Gus may also need chemotherapy, although Ms Moore and Mr Bennett don’t know the cost yet.

The couple, who have owned their dog since he was eight weeks old, have pet insurance but it only covers up to £10,000 a year.

Their wedding was booked for May 23 and they had already paid deposits on a venue at a hotel near their home in Thorpe St Andrew, Norfolk, as well as decorations, suits, make-up artist and other essentials and had bought the wedding dress and rings.

They are hoping to get back some of the £3,500 they have sunk into their nuptials but have put everything else on hold.

Lindsey Moore, 30, and Chris Bennett, 33, had been planning a spring wedding before learning that their Labrador, Gus, had cancer

Ms Moore, a client executive for an insurance broker, said: ‘I had an ectopic pregnancy when I was 21 and had to have a fallopian tube removed and I’ve got endometriosis as well. 

'The surgeon said it would be extremely difficult to have a child. From that day, Chris and I decided to get a dog. He’s my baby and I love him.’

Mr Bennett, an HGV driver, added: ‘When I found out, I sat in the same chair for three days, staring out of the window in shock.

‘I didn’t sleep for four days. Still now, I’m not eating great.’

Gus developed a slight limp on his left hind leg about six weeks ago when he was on a walk with his owners.

‘We took him to a vet but he made no signs of pain or discomfort so they decided to put him on anti-inflammatories in case he’d pulled a muscle,’ said Mr Bennett.

But Gus collapsed on another walk ten days later and the vet immediately referred him to a specialist.

A CT scan revealed a large mass between his kidneys that had spread across both sides of his pelvis.

The four-year-old pet is 'like a child' to the couple as they can't have children of their own

A CT scan revealed a large mass between Gus's kidneys that had spread across both sides of his pelvis

It was too risky to perform a biopsy but the devastated couple, who have been together since they were 15, were told it wouldn’t change the outcome of his treatment.