Please welcome Mabel 🤎

It’s hard to believe, but Mabel came from a registered breeding facility.
Yes… registered.

That’s something many people struggle to understand when they see dogs like Mabel for the first time.

For the first six years of her life, Mabel lived in a run. Alone.

Her world was small — wire, concrete, routine. She and the other dogs were let out only when they were needed. When it was time to breed. We’d like to believe she was also taken out when it was time to give birth… but the truth is, we simply don’t know.

What we do know is that Mabel’s life before rescue was not the life a dog should have.

When she arrived at the shelter, the team at RSPCA Victoria stepped in to give Mabel the care she had never received.

She underwent a hernia repair, was speyed, and had a lumpectomy. Thankfully the mass was a cyst with a benign lesion removed from her anal area. She also had a dental procedure, which included four extractions and a full oral examination.

Years of breeding and neglect had taken their toll on her body.

But yesterday, something changed.

Yesterday was the day Mabel left her past behind.

For what is very likely the first time in her life, she stepped into a real home.

Our heartfelt thanks go to her wonderful foster parents Carolynne and Tristan, who welcomed this timid little soul with patience and kindness.

Mabel is shy. That’s not surprising. Some dogs from these environments are loud and frantic when they first arrive in care, others simply shut down.

Mabel was one of the quiet ones.

At the shelter, she had only just begun learning how to leave the safety of her pen. She was gently introduced to a lead and taken outside for short moments. Each step was cautious. After all, being taken from her run likely only ever meant one thing in her past.

But she was brave.

And yesterday, when the crate door opened and she stepped onto grass – something beautiful happened.

Mabel sniffed the ground.

She wagged her tail.

And for the first time in a very long time, she looked like a dog who might be discovering that life can be something more.

She is a little chunky (too many litters and not enough exercise will do that), so a gentle diet will help her lose a few of those extra kilos.

But right now, the most important thing Mabel needs is time.

Time to learn that hands can be kind.
Time to learn that homes are safe.
Time to learn that life is not just a run and a breeding cycle.

Slowly, slowly we will go.

But we have a feeling about this girl.

Somewhere underneath the uncertainty is a dog who is ready to embrace her new freedom, one careful step at a time.

Welcome to your new life, Mabel 🤎

** Not yet ready for adoption — please no enquiries at this time **