Weds 4th Jan: The future of our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre

The new MTR has brought inevitable changes

The big story of the day is probably already familiar to many of you, as the news that the new MTR has proved to be a double-edged sword has already been reported in sections of the media as well as our own Hong Kong Dog Rescue Facebook page.   We had been anticipating the changes to the Main Street area of Ap Lei Chau, and as I have previously written this has already started with the rather incongruous upmarket residential building that has just opened a few doors up from our Homing Centre.  This will be just the start of a total "rejuvenation" project I'm sure, and the traditional fish restaurants that the area has long been famous for will no doubt be replaced with upmarket bars and eateries, just as happened in other areas such as Kennedy Town and more recently, Sai Ying Pun.

When we first moved to Ap Lei Chau it was literally an island that seemed to have been forgotten by the developers, as nearby Aberdeen and Wong Chuk Hang started to change quite drastically. Of course the plans for the MTR had already been made, but it seemed so far off that it didn't register in a day-to-day way, but now it is a reality that has brought the inevitable rent hikes as well as everything else.

We expected that our small Homing Centre rent would be increased when it came up for renewal at the end of March, but not that it would be almost doubled.  My first reaction to the news was to panic, and post a plea for help on our Facebook page (and thank you to everyone for the amazing messages of support and offers of help).  Of course whatever happens it will take long than just under three months to arrange, so we will have to negotiate an extension on our lease anyway.  We need to have time to think and look around before making any decisions.

For those of you who have asked for details or made suggestions. these are the basic facts to be considered.  Firstly, we have to find somewhere that accepts dogs, and that rules out a lot of places immediately.  Secondly, we have to be in an area where dogs can be walked, so that also means no busy shopping centres for example.  We also have to be easily accessible to adopters and volunteers, as well as being as close as possible to AFCD Pokfulam and Acorn vet clinic.  Of course there are other vet clinics but we like Acorn for many reasons so we don't really want to switch.

As a charity that tries as hard as we can to spend donations on the dogs and their welfare and not on everyday overheads, we can't afford to pay high rents.  That's the reason we chose Ap Lei Chau in the first place, and even with the rent increases since we first moved in we are currently paying $13,000 per month for two floors of 450 sf each.  In truth the space is already too small for the number of dogs we have there, so maybe a move to a bigger Homing Centre would be a good thing and we are open to any suggestions or offers.  However we already know that moving to Tai Po from our first kennel site in Pokfulam made a big difference to adoption rates, so we can't be right out in the sticks. Incidentally, that Pokfulam site that was so urgently needed back by the developers is still sitting empty and unused almost seven years later.  How I would like to take that space back now for our small dog Homing Centre.  It's a pipe dream of course, as we have already asked.

Dasher's adopter will send photos

There is other news for today, though not surprising as both of the dogs that were adopted were small, young and breeds.  Dasher the dachshund and Piglet the pug won't have to worry about our Homing Centre plight as they have already found their forever homes.

Everyone at the Homing Centre wanted to be in Piglet's adoption photo