Fri 17th Feb: An unwelcome adventure

Lucy was still wearing this harness today

I've been complaining about unsafe harnesses for a long time, the type that dogs can so easily slip out of, and today I experienced exactly that just as I was leaving Acorn with the shiba inu mother who had been in foster for a couple of weeks.  Now that her two pups are old enough to head off into the big wide world without her (but still as a pair), I needed to get the license and ownership sorted out as well as arranging an updated vaccination and health check.  Everything went fine at AFCD although Lucy, as I have called her, hated being in a crate so I let her sit next to me in the van, which she did quite happily.   However she didn't take kindly to being held so she could have blood taken for a heartworm test by the vet, and by the time we left she was quite stressed and probably also fretting about her babies.

She was still wearing the harness that she had been surrendered with and which the foster had kept on, and as I have warned about so many times, when Lucy was reluctant to get into the van to go back to the Homing Centre she just pulled back and the harness slipped easily over her head.  At first she didn't run, but as the cars sped by without slowing even though I was frantically waving my arms trying to stop the traffic, she started to panic and ran faster, up to Bonham Road until I lost sight of her.  I messaged to Ah Sing, our van driver, to come and pick me up, and then we drove round and round scanning the pavements for any sight of her, but without any luck.

There was a new dog from Stanley Barracks in the back of the van which had to get to Tai Po before dark, so I got out and continued my search on foot.  Some people said they had seen her heading in the direction of Caine Road but there are so many side roads she could have turned into so I was constantly doubling back. In the meantime I'd alerted Lucy's ex-foster, who lives nearby, in the hope that Lucy might head back to the only place she knows, as well as AFCD and our own Homing Centre,   Finally after having walked round and round and then all the way to the end of Caine Road I gave up and jumped into a minibus that was heading back the way I'd come.  It was then that I saw the message that Lucy had indeed made her way back to her foster home, so she can stay there until at least Sunday.  What a relief!

Alice is a gorgeous little girl

I also had a surrendered shih tzu with me when I went to AFCD and Acorn, a dear little girl, very sweet and in remarkably good condition given her age of fifteen years.  I have called her Alice in case anyone is interested in offering her a home.

With the new Cap139B Animal Trader Laws due to come into effect very soon, this article appeared in the SCMP today with the focus on the new minimum age requirement of sixteen for anyone buying a dog or puppy.  http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2071835/advocates-call-higher-age-restrictions-hong-kong

Our own HKDR minimum age is twenty one, but even then that's a very long commitment for anyone taking on a puppy with an average life expectancy of fifteen-plus years.  If I think back to when I was that age my life changed massively, as well as many times, in the following decade.   I did inherit a dog in my late twenties, and while I had her for many years I still had to give her to my parents when I left England for good.  I don't know which age is right, or if there is a right age for anything, but taking on a life is a long-term commitment that not many young people can make.

Bundle of fluff Saucer will be there on Sunday

Talking of puppies, just a reminder that it's Whiskers N Paws day on Sunday, and we have many beautiful babies waiting to meet their new forever families.

See you there!