Ipswich woman saved dog that was living off Chinese food

Sarah Moore, 55, rescued ‘chow mien Chihuahua’ Bella after seeing photos of the dog posted on social media.

The stay-at-home mum-of-three immediately took Bella to a vet who discovered that the pup had lost most of her teeth after living off of left over takeaway scraps. 

Sarah gave Bella home but warned that there is an increasing trend of people abandoning dogs following the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

Sarah Moore. (Image: High Rise Communications) She said: "Bella was living in a van and had only ever eaten Chinese food. We took her straight to the vets. All her nails were overgrown, and she had lost a lot of teeth because she wasn’t eating dog food.

“I’ve noticed there are a lot more stray dogs now and more and more people are dumping their dogs. Here in Suffolk, dogs are being found in different places every day, just left and tied to fences. These poor dogs need more people to help them. I felt I had to do something.”

In an effort to help other abandoned dogs Sarah became a supporter of Stowmarket based animal charity Suffolk Animal Rescue (SAR).

Bella. (Image: High Rise Communications) However, Sarah has struggled to donate as much as she would like to SAR due to after her vet and dog food bills have more than doubled.

Sarah, who looks after Bella with two Labradors and three other Chihuahuas, discovered SAR as a cause listed on the easyfundraising website.

Bella with two of Sarah's other dogs Pascal and Roscoe. (Image: High Rise Communications) Since then, every time she shops online Sarah does it through easyfundraising and a percentage of what she spends goes to SAR at no extra cost to her.

This is what is known as a micro donation which are increasingly vital for charities at a time when more are facing closure due to rising costs, falling incomes and declines in volunteering.