Dog stabbed and left for useless renamed ‘Hope’ after she makes miraculous restoration

WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: Hope, a puppy found in Egypt with her stomach cut open, is now a one-year-old survivor winning hearts at Dogstival in Burley

Hope was found as a tiny puppy laying next to her mum with her guts coming out after being brutally sliced open and left for dead in the streets of Egypt. I’m happy to write that I have received cuddles (and paw high fives) from Hope, now aged one, at this year’s Dogstival in Burley, Hampshire.

I brought my Romanian rescue Puck for yet another adventure, not expecting much, but experiencing plenty. Puck and I arrived in the witchy village of Burley from London by train (and briefly an Uber ride), on Saturday (May 30) afternoon.

Just like a festival, the Dogstival has various different food trucks, live music, and bars.

But as you may have guessed, the event is entirely dedicated to dogs. As a result, there are swimming pools, dog-cocktails and puppuccino stations, paw-painting tents, dog-pizza making classes, and my personal favourite: a dancefloor especially made for foam parties.

Arriving with just two hours left before closing, I spent my first Dogstival evening taking it all in. And as I stopped for a halloumi wrap, I soon found myself chatting to strangers, because dogs have a way of bringing people together.

I first conversed with like Sally-Anne, 66, and John, 37. “I met John at the spa he works at, and he has Asperger’s, and I think I’m also on the spectrum, we naturally connected, and now we’re best friends,” Sally-Anne said as her sassy poodle mix dog fussed with Puck.

And then I met Tracy Wilson, a weapons engineer in the Royal Navy, and Ben Pridmore, a firefighter. The Portsmouth couple’s impressive six-year-old Rottweiler, Thor, was the reason I first wandered over.

But it was Hope, the other dog in their little family of four, who kept me there until closing time. She greeted Puck instantly, with that unspoken understanding you only seem to get between rescue dogs.

Up close, she was impossible to forget: a sweet white fur-baby with a cheeky, crooked smile, long pharaoh ears, and a huge scar stretched across her stomach. “She loves human, even though she survived such horrific abuse,” Tracy said.

“I can’t even start thinking about it or I’ll start crying,” Ben added. Tracy’s crooked smile and funny way of breathing is the result of being kicked into the face as puppy.

Her scar bares a more violent history, having been found “sliced opened” with her organs exposed. It’s hard to comprehend how she is able to give so much love.

Hope’s hugs felt like proof that survival can still turn into softness; warm, unguarded, and impossibly generous. And yes, I did fight back tears when I heard of her tale of survival.

I spent my night at the Moorhill House Hotel, an 1800s mansion in the middle of the forest, which, in my opinion, is everything you’d want from a traditional English countryside getaway. Mince pies on arrival, freshly made scones and clotted cream to die for, the cosiest bedroom, and, of course, a dog-friendly environment.

Day 2 followed a great rest in the English place of my dreams. So on Sunday (May 31), I had the opportunity to speak with Sarah Jones, who created My Anxious Dog, bright yellow “space-awareness” products for anxious, nervous or reactive dogs.

“See, as I’m talking to you, your dog has moved away from me and gone behind you,” Sarah instantly noticed, a sign that Puck, who likely has a history of abuse of his own, trusts me and sees me as his safety. “I would simply not pet a dog,” Sarah said when I asked her how people should generally behave with dogs in public spaces.

Sarah started the #DogsInYellow campaign for her own very anxious Cocker Spaniel, Bella. She urged people to always ask before petting a dog, and emphasised that stroking under the chin, rather than on top of the head, is usually a more positive approach.

Nevertheless, she’s learnt through Bella that, in public spaces, dogs are often best left alone with their owners. Under the supervision of dog trainer Niki French, Puck, who wearing his new “anxious dog” neon yellow harness, dropped his guard and was visibly enthusiastic to roam around Dogstival’s Yellow Space Zone.

The calm, enclosed little park, filled with sensory toys, food, and sniff-based enrichment activities, enables anxious dogs at the event to decompress in a safe, quiet place where they can relax and just be. “The festival gets bigger every year,” Domine Nowell, who co-founded the Dogstival with her husband Richard, told me.

“We expect 15,000 visitors.” As I checked out from Moorhill House and prepared my bag for my trip back to London, I couldn’t stop thinking about Hope’s scar.

Not as something ugly, but as a map of everything she’s survived to stand here now, grinning up at strangers for fuss and “paw” shakes like the world has only ever been kind. Dogstival might sell puppuccinos and foam parties, but the real magic is quieter: it’s in the yellow space, the gentle asking before stroking, the rescued dogs choosing to trust again, and the people who show up for them.

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