Freddie is my very special pooch, rescued from the side of the road in Huntly, NZ. He was born in August 2021, he is my first dog and my beloved baby. He is currently in Brisbane, QLD and I desperately want to find a way to bring him home.

Freddie was my constant, my rock during what became a an extremely financial, emotional and physically abusive relationship that changed me forever and very nearly broke me as during this time I had multiple attempts on my life. When I got pregnant I knew I had to survive.

My name is Ashleigh, I am a kiwi nurse with a three-year-old daughter.

This may be a long story..

I met my daughters' father in 2020 after COVID lockdown. He was very easy to trust and quickly the relationship turned Narcissistic. I didn't notice to begin with and when I did I was for too manipulated and attached to leave. I got pregnant with my daughter.

Throughout our relationship, I was receiving accusations of cheating; including the day I gave birth to my child.

He decided that he wanted to move to Australia in late 2022 and if I wanted to "keep the family together" I had to come.

So, at 30 weeks pregnant with my first child, my family's' first grandchild, I moved from New Zealand to Brisbane, QLD. We lived in stress for weeks until we managed to gain a rental through a family friends' friend. I applied for healthcare instantly however Medicare can take months to be accepted (he is Australian citizen, I am NZ).

We move in at 34 weeks and one day I experienced the vision in my left eye start to fade. I called him to return home from work and he refused. He eventually took me to the hospital where my tests came back normal and I was discharged.

Two weeks later, I present to maternity at the hospital I planned to birth at. The midwife took my blood pressure.. 200/110mmHg, I had no symptoms at the time. Ridiculously elevated, which explained my previous vision loss.

I am admitted for 7 days and induced as growth scans show my baby as premature size. He visited me twice this week.

My best friend flys from NZ to be with me and the night of my induction he wants to get an inappropriate and illegal powder which would leave him unable to attend the birth.

After my daughter's birth she was in NICU for 7 days, he visited twice also. This was the theme.

I started working due to post-partum mental health at four months, with no support from him, in another country away from all my family. From there I worked full-time until my daughter was 8 months old, he decided he was going to work "FIFO" turns out he had another family two blocks away (found out march 2025). He never saw my daughter after that.

November 2023 I reach my limit - I am single parenting, no family, 40–50-hour weeks, and left with 100% of the costs and all the excuses under the sun. I tell him I need a break, I need to go home for Christmas, he agrees. Three weeks after I left (with a return ticket) he packs up our rental and loads up trailer after trailer with my entire household. I say mine because I paid for it all and I took every precious belonging (stupidly) with me. Memories, precious keepsakes, jewellery, clothing, all gone without remorse. He continued to lie to me for 16 months that he had stored it all and he was paying for the storage and that I better pay him back etc.

To add in: this is a pattern of horrific behaviour by him; he has ripped off countless women and treated them all the same. I never thought that I would be a victim of physical, emotional and financial violence, but we never do. If anything, allow this to be a story of caution. If you are experiencing manipulative behaviour in a relationship, or recognise someone else is, don't give up on them and support them as best you can.

Where does Freddie come into all of this?

He promised that he paid for Freddie's passage to Australia, the excuses continued; the company went belly up, they're giving him a refund but it's not processing etc. Desperate for my dog, I ask my brother if he can spot me the money. He promises when he gets the refund, he will pay my brother back. It never happens.

Freddie is still living in Brisbane; I lost every aspect of my life except my daughter (who has $0 paid child support) and my beloved Dog. If I could raise any money to bring him home to me, I just know It will be the nail on the coffin to put this all behind me. I had estimated costs of $5,000 due to his large breed and NZ strict Biosecurity.

If you are able to donate any small amount, It will be loved and enjoyed for the rest of Freddies' life and my daughter and I will have our very special Dog home.