Go on, be an angel! Can you help?

Wow! The Purina Accelerator has attracted 110 applicants this year! I am one of them. Would you like to hear my idea?

I've been the editor and publisher of Dogs Today magazine for the past 30 plus years, but I've worked within a couple of start ups recently as a dog expert, but I've applied to the Accelerator as a founder for the first time.

My idea is called The Bark Angel.

Some background, I've been a campaigner against puppy farming since the 1990s and have tried everything in that time including legislation (I was part of Lucy's Law that got the pet shop sales ban)?but still the commodity breeders and smugglers have not only continued to trade, they're thrived at the very great expense of our friend the dog and all those who love them. Pet theft for breeding slavery sadly is a very real thing - many long term lost and stolen are only found when they are dumped after finally becoming too old and uneconomic to breed from.

My idea is instead of telling the public what NOT to do, we make it easier and actually enjoyable to make much better choices. Make being ethical not just morally correct but also mind-blowingly superior.

The plan is to make provenance matter to the next generation and change the way they acquire a dog so that dogs pass from a loving home to another. To make it so mums aren't kept as slaves, instead they are loved and treasured. And breeders can learn to be trainers, teaching every pup to be a great pet in those first eight weeks, setting them up for success not failure.

Bringing a meritocracy to the dog space so excellence in all dog professions becomes easier for everyone to spot. And turning those angelic dog experts into local hero dog advisors helping new pet parents succeed.

I hope in time The Bark Angel's halo would become as well known as the Michelin star!

I want the best qualified and experienced groomers stand out. For the dog trainers who have learned their craft to be easier to find than the person with great marketing who has just watched a Cesar Milan boxset.

And for them to help new owners choose the right pet and make it normal to do a pre-natal class before you get your pup. Make getting a pup more like adding a human member to the family.

I've founded a few other things along the way - back in the 1990s I organised the first ever Take Your Dog to Work Day for the Blue Cross and in the early 2000s I invented the Wag and Bone Show which was the first major event for the family dog that united Dogs Trust, Battersea, RSPCA, Wood Green, Blue Cross, PDSA, Guide Dogs and the Kennel Club - which if nothing else meant a very large table for everyone to sit around! It ran for five years after I gifted it to them for ￡1.

My idea for the Bark Angel is for it to be a robust umbrella for many years to come so that all the best people and organisations in the dog world unite to help signpost who the new pet parent can trust. Pull together to make the start of each pup's life less of a gamble.

I figure if we change the beginning of their lives we can change the endings.

If every pup born has a good runway and a decent safety net then much fewer will end up unwanted and much fewer people will have a negative experience that puts them off dog ownership for life.

If you remember only one thing about the Bark Angel, it's that pups can be reared with love and expertise so they are housetrained and sleep through when you get them. It is that which will probably change people's buying habits. Those breeder/trainers already using these methods are keen to share them so that all dogs will in future be bred this way.

Sorry, that would only be an elevator pitch if the lift was out of order! But do share your ideas and dreams and if we can help each other in any way I love collaboration. Why reinvent the wheel if you can together make a bigger vehicle that really moves!

I am big on ideas and know where all the doggie people are, but very inexperienced on how to go about raising money! Would love altruistic mentors in the start up world as keen as I am to make the Bark Angel fly.