Weds 1st Feb: Ignorance is not bliss

Cyrus needs a new home

One of the biggest problems we face is ignorance, and there is so much of it around that I find it astonishing that many people even manage to make it through a day, let alone a whole life.  In law ignorance is no excuse if you commit a crime then claim you didn't know, but what could be the reason for buying a poodle puppy one day and then giving it up the next, complete with thousands of dollars' worth of accessories?  Someone did just that today.  Or what about the person who wants to surrender a Tibetan mastiff which he's had for five years, except it's not a Tibetan mastiff at all, it's a Bernese Mountain dog.  

In fact that's much better as far as rehoming is concerned because although both very large dogs, the nature of a Bernese Mountain dog is very different from that of a Tibetan mastiff.  A few years ago these mastiffs were the latest rage and they were being bred all over Hong Kong and popping up in AFCD or being surrendered directly, even puppies.  These days I never see any, although I'm sure they're still around, because I think people realised that as adults they can be very difficult to handle and their natural guarding instinct can also make them dangerous.  By comparison a Bernese has a placid nature, so if anyone is interested in adopting the one that needs a new home please let me know (sally@hongkongdogrescue.com).

Mother Lucy and pups

The shiba inu with her two surviving puppies came today and went straight into a foster home until the pups are old enough to be separated from their mother, Lucy, and all three can be rehomed.  It's another story of ignorance and cruelty, maybe without intent, but the fact is that someone bought this dog and then told the helper to get rid of it when it was no longer wanted.  The father of the pups is clearly one of the local "lads" as is so often the case.

Missing Gem 

Someone turned up at the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre with a little poodle who looked so like our missing Gem that for a moment I thought it was her.  The owner of the poodle lives in Public Housing where pets are strictly not allowed so she was surrendering her pet, a very sweet and lovely four year-old.

I'm normally off on Wednesdays, but after the Lunar New Year break there was so much to do that I decided to go over to Hong Kong anyway, so took the new poodle to AFCD to have an updated rabies vaccination and change of owner to my name.  The older puppy that I'd wanted to take out before the holiday was also now free to go so I asked Cactus to accompany me as we didn't have the van today.  While she held the poodle I carried the very sweet five month-old puppy girl in the taxi back to the Homing Centre, and both will go to Acorn on Thursday.

There are more puppies at AFCD too, so please come along to Whiskers N Paws on Sunday to meet the many - and I really do mean lots of - young puppies needing homes.