Milton Keynes animal lover awarded British Empire Medal for rescuing dogs with no hope

Samantha (Sam) Green set up the Dogstar Foundation, a charity that rescues sick and hungry dogs that roam the streets in parts of the paradise island.

Dogstar has sterilised more than49,0000 dogs and cats, completed over 67,000 rabies vaccinations and treated numerous dogs for illness and injury. has also developed relationships with the local communities, employing local staff and given them training and experience.

Sam is now based full-time in Sri Lanka, but her remarkable story started when she was a London Underround engineer living in Milton Keynes.

On July 7 2005, following the 7/7 terrorist attack on the Underground, she led a team of specialist engineers supporting the police as they worked in the after the blasts. Entering the tunnels each day to work in harrowing conditions, Sam put aside her own emotional pain to focus on supporting the emergency services underground.

But returning to regular work afterwards was challenging, with the sights and sounds of what she had seen underground in those terrible days still haunting her. Less than a year later, she was made redundant due to budget cuts.

Traumatised, unemployed and severed from the only life she had ever known, Sam decided to take some time to heal and travel overseas. By the end of September 2006, she was in Sri Lanka, a country still reeling from the recent Tsunami and in the grip of a civil war.

Always an animal-lover, Sam had noticed that the local dogs were suffering from parasites and asked her husband Mark to send out some treatments to allow her to treat the dogs nearby.

On visiting a local monastery, Sam spotted a litter of puppies suffering from fleas and worms. When she returned with the treatment, a

monk noticed her and asked her to come and see another dog. The poor dog was riddled with mange, almost bald and with leathery skin, and also obviously broken leg.

The monk pleaded: “You can make her better? In a moment that was to change her life, Sam simply answered “Yes”.

This pivota replyl led to the creation of Dogstar Foundation, where Sam was able to channel her own experiences of struggle and trauma into effecting positive change for the animals and people there by feeding, educating and sustaining communities.

Sam moved with her husband to Sri Lanka in 2013 to concentrate further on developing Dogstar Foundation and set up their world-renowned sterilisation program for street and owned dogs and cats.

Then, in April 2019, Sri Lanka suffered a series of terrorist attacks, bringing back many emotions felt at the time of the London tube bombings. As the country recovered, the world changed again with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Through all of this, Sam has continued to lead and develop Dogstar Foundation. She said this week: "I was totally and utterly gobsmacked and it took a few days to really sink in. I am truly honoured and humbled to receive recognition for the work I do as part of a wider team who are as passionate about

animal welfare as I am.

"It’s a brilliant uplifting start to 2021 especially after the numerous challenges of the last few years."