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From glamour model to dog rescuer – meet the woman who’s saved over 800 animals from cruelty

As career changes go, I think my one is pretty unusual: in my 20s and 30s I earned thousands of pounds a day working as a model and an actress, appearing in glamorous shoots, on adverts, and even in a film – Eyes Wide Shut – alongside Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

But four years ago I ditched my Manolo Blahniks for wellies, and now
I save hundreds of dogs a year from violent abuse, neglect, torture and death.

It all started when I saw a plea on Facebook to help a tiny little dog that had been abandoned and was living in a cardboard box in a forest in Romania.

A local woman had posted on a charity’s Facebook page, asking for a €40 donation to go towards the cost of rescuing the pup. Although part of me thought it could well be a scam, I paid the money anyway.

My first rescue

A few days later the woman contacted me and asked me where she should send the dog. At first I panicked as I had no idea what to do, but I knew I had to help.

It turned out to be quite easy to bring the pup over to the UK using the dog passport scheme and, though I adored the little Jack Russell, I sadly wasn’t in a position to keep her.

I posted a snap of her online, and within a few weeks I’d managed to find her a new home on a ranch in America – pretty much every dog’s dream! It was such a fairy tale for the dog that I decided I wanted to do more.

My friend Pola and I set up a charity to help stray dogs. We came up with the name K-9 Angels, as I thought we were a bit like Charlie’s Angels – quite glamorous, and kick-ass – but fighting for animals rather than humans. Now, four years on, we’ve rescued over 800 dogs from certain death and neutered thousands more.

Maurice Sparrow

Read more: Puppy torturer gets ‘maximum’ sentence of SIX MONTHS in prison

Although it’s very rewarding, it can also be incredibly upsetting and I’ve had terrible nightmares. I’ve seen things that are more horrendous than I thought possible, the saddest case being a Romanian dog called Erica who had been beaten and sexually assaulted by a human. Luckily, we managed to rehome her in the UK and she now lives a happy life.

If you’d told me 10 years ago that this is what I’d be doing, I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s a million miles away from my previous career, which was full of glamour and excitement.

Back then, I’d spend my days stomping up and down the Kings Road in Chelsea with my modelling portfolio, and my nights hanging out at cool parties. I did all sorts of modelling, including lingerie and Page 3. I also starred in adverts for Guinness and Birds Eye peas, earning up to £10,000 a day.

But after a few years the roles dried up, along with my enthusiasm for it all. I’ve always been passionate about animal welfare and have been veggie since the age of six so, in a way, K-9 Angels was the natural next step. I’m very fortunate as I can honestly say I’ve done both of my dream jobs.

Running the charity is a full-time project and I don’t get paid. It’s taken over my life, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I regularly go to Romania to rescue dogs from run-down shelters and it’s hell on earth. I go in knowing I only have enough money to rescue 10 dogs, and choosing which ones to help is gut-wrenching.

I’m the only thing coming between those animals spending another night on a cold, wet floor, and being kicked and starved. After a trip to the shelters, I’m ill for several weeks… it hurts my soul.

Maurice Sparrow

Read more: A moment of kindness triggered this starving dog’s fight for life

Soon I’ll be flying out to Thailand to film a documentary about dogs being sold for meat. It’s going to be dangerous and soul-destroying, but it’s something I feel I have to do.

Thousands of dogs are kidnapped from their homes and smuggled over the border to Vietnam, where they are sold at markets. The poor creatures are often tortured because people falsely believe the meat is tenderised by the adrenalin coursing though their veins.

I’ve tried to find as many different ways of fundraising as possible, including selling off all my old designer clothes. I recently sold a Prada handbag for £600, and used the money to help rehabilitate a dog that was learning to walk again. It was a defining moment for me, saying goodbye to that old, glam part of my life.

Celebrity help

I’ve also tried to gain more awareness for the charity, even doing a short stint on Big Brother in 2012. Being on the show dramatically changed my life – though not in the way you might think.

For a week before entering the house, contestants are sent into hiding and I was placed in a tiny village in Sussex. Up until then, I’d always been such a London girl – I thought the countryside was boring and loved the bustle of the city.

But I fell in love with the place and, one night in the pub, I met the man of my dreams. Stephen and I are made for one another, and he’s very supportive of my work – even if he does sometimes come back from a business trip to find an extra dog in the house (we’ve got five and counting!).

Together, we’ve raised thousands of pounds for K-9 Angels, but by far the biggest boost to the charity has come from our celebrity supporters. Ricky Gervais retweeted one of our posts and within hours we were flooded with calls and donations. We also made a calendar with celebs such as Anastasia, Rachel Riley and Sue Barker posing for selfies with their dogs.

One night when I was snuggled up on the sofa watching Britain’s Got Talent with Stephen, I had the shock of my life. Pudsey the Dog had just won the final, and Simon Cowell turned to the camera and told the millions of viewers that they should donate to K-9 Angels. I had absolutely no idea that Simon had even heard of us and I nearly fell off the sofa in surprise!

Sometimes I miss the excitement and glamour of my old life. Stephen and I live just a few miles from the pub where we first met and there are days when I see more cows than people. But I only have to think about all the dogs out there who need my help and it makes it all worth it.

Dog cruelty: The facts

Getty

• In Vietnam, approximately 5 million dogs are slaughtered each year for human consumption.
• There are 480,000,000 stray dogs in the world, and 80,000 stray dogs in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, alone.
• The Romanian government has attempted to cull street dogs by poisoning or shooting them.
• A law in Romania states all dogs in rescue shelters not rehomed can be killed after 14 days.
• K-9 Angels have rehomed 800 dogs and neutered 3,000 more.
• Last year, 159,831 cases of animal cruelty were investigated in the UK, resulting in 1,029 convictions.
• Every day in the UK, 21 abandoned or stray dogs are put down.

To find out more about K-9 Angels or to donate, visit www.k-9angels.org

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