My good friend Heidi Mumford, a model, actress and entrepreneur stopped by to answer some questions with me about her new exciting venture ‘Ethical Pup’

Heidi, myself and Wendy Turner Webster all judged at this year’s Mayhew and this was where she told me about what she has planned for Ethical Pup, which sounds simply amazing, innovative and ground breaking.

• Heidi – what do you do?

1. For the past ten years I have been a professional actor and model in London. While acting is still my passion, I envisage working more and more within animal welfare and eventually my dream would be to have my own sanctuary/rehabilitation place in the countryside. I would like to be in the position of being able to help as many animals in need as I can, and work alongside other welfare orgs in promoting education and lobbying for protective legislation and stronger criminal punishment for animal abusers.

• What is Ethical Pup?

1. Ethical Pup is my fledgling charity I created last year to launch the first whistle-blowing app, ‘Ethical Animal’ which enables the public to capture and report animal abuse and neglect AS IT HAPPENS.  The RSPCA is adopting our technology and will be receiving reports once we go live on iTunes. We have also built an android version which will be launched in conjunction with the iPhone version. We have signed contracts with the RSPCA so we’re now just waiting for them to say they are ready for us to go live. it’s been a long process but we’re almost there….

• How was Ethical Pup conceived?

1. My husband and I were discussing ways in which we could actively help in animal welfare and in particular, combat the rise of horrific abuse in the UK. We had the idea of creating a ethical doggie café, promoting fare trade organic and vegetarian produce and donating 10% of each purchase to a animal charity of choice. Realising that this would be a huge commercial venture we decided to created our own charity first. Ultimately I think I just got sick and tired of being distraught reading so many cases of abuse and feeling powerless. Ethical Pup was my way of making a stand and getting involved. Also using technology and the rise of social media for the greater good.

• Where do you hope Ethical Pup will go?

1. Ideally I would like to see Ethical Pup work abroad and in conjunction with governments, welfare orgs and charities the world over. We have lots of ideas but I think we need to focus on launching in the UK first and then re-group. We’re a small team but I’m confident with enough work we will achieve our goals. I would also like to see the public embrace the app and start using it; by actively getting involved and realising that animal abuse is on everyone’s doorstep we raise awareness. With awareness and better education we combat peoples apathy and hopefully we can turn the tide.

• How can we download Ethical Pup etc and how can the average person use it?

1. As soon as the RSPCA give us the green light we can release the app on iTunes. It has already been approved by Apple and is ready to go. It is very simple to use and its sister website www.ethicalpup.org is the go-to for FAQ and further info. It’s very simple to use though; simply download and start using. It has several inbuilt features including a GPS tracking and nearest vet checker location, if you come across a wounded animal.