Freedom is on our front cover this month - and I believe she's definitely worth fighting for. This charity is changing the world for dogs in the most desperate need.

Wagging tails and hopeful faces met Maria Slough at the Public Shelter in Bosnia, but only from those brave enough to step forward. This is the place where dogs come to die. Old dogs so tired and thin they had given up, dogs whose tails were so matted they struggled to walk. One girl was covered in blood and faeces and being repeatedly mounted by the male dogs.

She stumbled to the bars and pushed her nose through for a kiss, offering a paw. Was this hell on earth? For these dogs & countless others across Europe this is.

Maria couldn't walk away. She launched a fundraiser and in just five days wonderful donors came forward to help her liberate four dogs. A very matted girl, full of sores and a bag of bones - a chow cross was among them. She called her Freedom and this month she's a cover girl.

Beauty isn't all about youth and perfect symmetry, look into her eyes and you will see a heart that is ready to love and trust despite everything.

Saving Freedom gave Maria and the charity a new determination to help the dogs lost in the public system. To do that they need to fund ongoing work, build space, pay vets bills and support their efforts to care for/rehome those with already saved, to create more space for those in desperate need of freedom.

It's my birthday and my encounter with Freedom and Maria has renewed my zest for life. I do hope you'll cheer Maria on and if you can afford to help, please do. But if you can't, don't fret - please just share this message of hope where others can see it.

We can't possibly save ever dog from suffering, but we can keep trying to make a better world for our best friend who forgives and loves so selflessly.