Mirror People’s Pet Awards - Heroic Alexis cares for unloved animals

14 March 2024 , 08:19

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Our team went through thousands of nominations to produce a shortlist for the judging panel, who chose which incredible animals and animal lovers should receive a trophy.

We’ll be revealing them every week on this page - today it’s our Animal Hero, Alexis Fleming.

When her beloved dog Maggie lost her fight for life before she got the chance to say goodbye, Alexis Fleming was heartbroken.

The bull mastiff had been diagnosed with lung cancer, and sadly passed away following complications during surgery.

In the years before, Maggie had been a constant source of support for Alexis, who herself had faced serious challenges with her health.

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“I’d been desperately ill for years with Crohn’s disease and inflammatory arthritis, and at one point my immune system was in such a terrible state I was given just weeks to live,” says Alexis, from Kirkcudbright.

“In my most challenging moments, Maggie had given me a reason to carry on because I had to get myself up out of bed to look after her. Losing her was devastating.”

But it was losing Maggie that inspired Alexis to launch her very own animal hospice to help abandoned end-of-life animals during their final days, an organisation which has evolved since it began in 2016 to include a sanctuary for healthy rescue animals, too.

“It was as if a series of events led me to realise I had to do it,” says Alexis, 43. “I put something up on Facebook in memory of Maggie where I mentioned the idea, and people thought it was up and running. Very quickly, as these things do, it all took off. My first end of life animal was a German Shepherd with a tumour, who had just a couple of weeks to live.”

The Maggie Fleming Animal Hospice, based on four acres of land in the south-west of Scotland, has helped hundreds of animals over almost eight years of service.

Alexis and her team have given end-of-life care to dozens of abandoned animals at the hospice, focusing on making them comfortable by reading to them, feeding them their favourite treats and finally, if necessary, euthanising them with the support of a vet when the time is right.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a dog, a hen, a sheep or a pig,” says Alexis. “At the end of an animal’s life, every one of them will take comfort from being treated kindly.”

But, due to the growing demand for rescue spaces, the vast majority of the animals currently cared for by Alexis and her team, which is run entirely by volunteers and fundraising, are not end of life.

“At the moment we’ve got around 420 animals on site,” says Alexis, who wrote a book about her experiences called ‘No Life Too Small’. “We’ve got around 350 hens and cockerels, mainly animals that have hatched but that no-one wants.

“We’ve got 24 dogs, four cats, 28 sheep, nine pigs and some quails. At this point, as things have developed over the years, most of the animals aren’t actually end of life, and we’ve got such big numbers because the demand for rescues has grown so much.

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“On the hospice side, we have a small number who are at the end-of-life stage, and we provide additional care for them.

“It really is an honour to do this work, because the way things are at the minute, there are so many animals out there who need proper love and care.

“I couldn’t do what I do without incredible support from my team of volunteers as well as some fantastic vets.

“It was this time nine years ago I thought I had just weeks left to live, but things have changed so much since then. I lost Maggie, but I managed to carry on and make a go of it with this work in her memory, and it feels like an incredible milestone to have won an ‘Animal Hero’ award with the People’s Pet Awards. I’m over the moon with it, but there’s lots more work to do.”

Pony Maisey reunited with owners

We love a great pet picture, and so do our friends at Webbox.

And we all want to see your favourite snaps of your animal pals, so please send them in – the cuter the better. We’ll share as many as we can on this page, and in our brilliant newsletter too.

This week we have a slightly unusual pet, and a story with a happy ending.

Shetland pony Maisey, who was stolen from a field in Wiltshire last July, was spotted by a member of the public eight months later. The 16-year-old miniature Shetland mare has now been reunited with her delighted owners.