Sat 21st Oct: The end is in sight

Lifting bags of cement

Volunteers have been busy again at our Tai Po Homing Centre helping with the shifting of heavy rubber tiles, fencing and so on as part of the major renovation project.  I'm hoping that the end is in sight for the work as all of the new fencing is now in place although I'm still working on one aspect, the building of play/resting/shelter platforms in the enclosures.  This particular idea has been in the pipeline for a long time but the logistics, including design and cost as well as the workforce required have delayed and delayed, so finally I made this my own personal challenge.  I hope that work will begin on the first structure very soon, and if it works out as planned we will go ahead with building more.  Due to the difference in shape and size of each enclosure the platforms have to be made to measure on site, and that has been one of the many obstacles in the past.

A drone's eye view of part of the renovated site (thanks to Ted Holtmark van Dijkerhof)

A huge thank you for all the help offered

Overall it's been a very difficult period at Tai Po as everything that was done had to take into account the hundreds of dogs that are living there and the lack of space at the best of times, as well as the daily routine of feeding, cleaning and walking which couldn't just be put to one side.  I have to thank all of the staff who have been working so hard and under very stressful conditions, as well as the volunteers of course.  I really hope that at the end when everything is finished and in place it will have been well worth the blood, sweat and tears.

The Homing Centre has stayed open for adoptions throughout the renovation period of course, and we welcome visitors every single day of the year at both Tai Po and Ap Lei Chau regardless of Public Holidays or even T10 typhoons.  The dogs come first and will always be the main priority.

Jack is 2 weeks older than this now

This year has been a bad one for Sunday typhoons which have meant no puppy afternoons at Whiskers N Paws though, but we'll be back this week for sure.  Puppies Jack and Bina have had two weeks to grow since our last puppy Sunday, so I hope this will be their last.

Kimmy and sister Kiera are being treated for tick fever

We get so many enquiries for small sized and breed puppies and yes, they are available from time to time.  It's really a matter of luck and timing if you want to adopt one of these little youngsters, and you need to keep checking.  There were two lucky adopters this week, one of dachshund Dipsy and the other Bichon Loopy, now Betty.

Loopy is now Betty

We do still have a nine month-old bichon available, although Blizzard has just had surgery for a broken leg and is in a foster home. 

Blizzard has just had surgery to fix his broken leg