00:00 Maisie was definitely the thinnest dog I've ever seen.
00:03 She was curled up into a little ball like she was in a bed.
00:06 Just like a little rock, she was still and cold and stiff to the touch.
00:09 I could see that she was just breathing
00:11 and that was when I realised she was still alive.
00:14 And when I put her into my van,
00:16 I was terrified that she wasn't going to be alive
00:18 when I got her out the other end.
00:19 It's really difficult when you've been doing the job for 10 years
00:23 because to a certain extent you do become hardened.
00:26 But there are certain things, like Maisie's case for example,
00:30 that you just never get used to.
00:31 If I'd have got there any later, she wouldn't have been alive.
00:34 All throughout that first week while she was at the vets,
00:37 every morning, every phone call that I had with the vets,
00:39 I was expecting it to be bad news.
00:41 And then in week two, they sent me a picture of her standing up
00:45 and that was when I knew that she was going to be OK.
00:48 So then we started to search for a foster home for her
00:50 because I knew she wasn't going to be well enough to go into kennels.
00:53 I knew she'd need to go straight into a home environment.
00:55 As soon as they sent a picture of her and I was aware of her condition,
00:59 I knew with my vet nursing background,
01:00 there was no way that I was going to say no to her.
01:02 She was so underweight, all her bones protruded,
01:06 so she had wounds on her shoulders
01:08 and they did an incredible job saving her life.
01:11 And when she came to me, she was still in an appalling position.
01:15 So exhausted most of the time that she just wanted to sleep.
01:18 And I knew it was going to be a long journey
01:20 to get her back and rehabilitate her.
01:23 Three to four months down the line after having her,
01:25 we went on a certain walk where there is a huge open field
01:28 and I let them off and normally she wouldn't leave my side
01:31 or leave my Labrador Cody's side.
01:34 And she just wagged her tail and set off.
01:38 And that was it. She was flying around with my Lab and my Cocker,
01:41 just doing loops, looking like a real lurcher and enjoying herself.
01:46 And it was great to see.
01:47 She's just such a fighter.
01:48 I can't believe she's gone from near death to what she is now.
01:53 It's just amazing. She's full of energy.
01:55 She's such a little character.
01:56 Obviously, if you can have a happy ending like in Maisie's case,
02:00 then it's much easier to deal with the horrendous start of it.
02:05 I feel most people aren't aware of how the RSPCA works
02:09 and that they don't get any help other than what we can help with
02:14 by donating or by rescuing, or if you can, by fostering.
02:20 If we didn't have them, there are so many animals that would lose their lives.
02:24 I'm really, really grateful to the people that donate to the RSPCA
02:27 because it means that we can keep doing what we do.
02:29 And there's no other charity that is involved in
02:34 prosecuting animal welfare cases like Maisie's.
02:37 And I think that's a really, really important role of the RSPCA.
02:40 Also for people who love to help animals,
02:42 but you potentially can't have an animal yourself,
02:45 being able to donate would save dogs like Maisie
02:48 and allow us to take them out of poor situations
02:52 and then rehabilitate them and get them happy and healthy and back into life.
02:56 So if you are in the position where you can donate,
02:59 it can make such a huge difference.
03:01 Let's save more animals.
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