Martha, the human race has really let you down so far.... but there is Hope. Hope Rescue thankfully stepped in before she was killed in the pound after spending 11 miserable years as a breeding slave.
Whether there is hope for the hardened hearts at Grazia magazine that attempted to make monetising your pets hip and cool two weeks ago.....well how can anyone look this dog in the eye and not put this terrible wrong right? (Read my last blog for more about this - click here.)
Here's an open letter to Grazia from Hope Rescue:
Thank you Grazia for publishing our letter online in response to your "Millennial Hustlers" article which promoted irresponsible breeding of family pets as a "cool and hip" way to generate extra cash.
We are however disappointed that you did not take up our offer to spend the day with us. If you had then we could have introduced you to Martha, who broke our rescue-hardened hearts when she came into our care yesterday. Martha is 11 years old and ended up in the pound. Her ears are thick with infection, left untreated for a very long time. Her mite infestation has caused issues with her eyes. Her once beautiful coat is filthy and matted. Her back end is poor and her front foot needs x-raying as she most likely has an old untreated injury. So what has this got to do with Grazia you may ask? If this poor old girl's condition was not enough to make you weep, then please read on. Poor Martha has recently had puppies and has spent her entire life churning out litter after litter. This Grazia, is what your ill-conceived and irresponsible article is promoting. This Grazia, is what we have to continually deal with week in week out and why we campaign so hard against irresponsible breeding. This Grazia, is the very real welfare cost of irresponsible breeding and why we wanted you to spend time with us and write a counter article. The offer still stands.
Enough of Grazia now though and back to Martha. We cannot sing Martha's praises enough; she is so affectionate and incredibly gentle. Martha should have been somebody's soul dog, not used and absued as a breeding machine. We are urgently looking for a local foster home in South Wales for Martha. She is likely to be in foster for some time as she recovers and we deal with her medical needs. She has been great with all the dogs she has met at the vets and in kennels so far. We would ask that any potential foster home meets her at the kennels in Blackwood with any resident dogs. If you are interested in helping Martha start her new life then please email Kate on fostering@hoperescue.org.uk.
Please share Martha's story
Until Grazia tell Martha's story to their readers, they'll be known as Grrrrazia in the welfare world. Just imagine if they paid to give her a full pampering before featuring her on their glamorous pages? Could one of their readers find space on their impossibly stylish Habitat sofas? Or even their Ikea ones....
