BACKSTREET BOYS - CARTER `DEVASTATED' AFTER MUM DUMPS DOG

BACKSTREET BOYS star NICK CARTER is fuming after learning his estranged mother dumped his pitbull terrier in a Florida animal shelter - without the pop star's knowledge. Carter family matriarch Jane reportedly dropped the pooch, Layla, off at a Tampa-area animal home at the beginning of the week (27Aug07), after her eldest son asked her to babysit his pet. Ironically, Nick rescued the dog from a Los Angeles animal shelter last year (06), according to TMZ.com. The Backstreet Boys star only found out about his mother's actions when a volunteer at the shelter identified Layla via a microchip implant, and contacted the owner of the pound where Carter adopted the pooch. Staff then contacted the singer, who was "very choked up". The pop star's publicist, Juliette Harris, says, "Nick is devastated and frustrated, and is doing everything he can to get Layla safely back. "He will either charter a plane to fly her back, or fly dog handlers out to bring her back to him."