Fri 24th Aug: Paying the price of caring

I'm sure Griffin was happy to be heading home

The plan for today was to take Griffin to Acorn in the morning to have his wound stitched, and then to pick him up in the afternoon having done other things during the intervening hours.  However when Dr Tony took at look at Griffin he suggested just leaving the wound to heal by itself, something I would normally choose to do were it not for the fact that the other dogs keep licking it, even through the "sports vest" that Griffin has to wear.  I was happy to know that everything was looking fine in terms of infection, but it meant having to go straight home rather than being able to go to the Homing Centre, so that was my day.

Taking Griffin's minor surgery spot, we had to rush small dog Tibet to Acorn instead when he was found with one eye out, literally.  I won't share the photo I was sent as it's pretty horrible, especially if you share my aversion to anything that involves eye injuries.  My own Murphy suffered the same loss of an eye, and I was more upset and freaked out that he was I think.  Tibet's eye couldn't be put back in place and his surgery was also risky because he has a breathing problem, but he survived.

Tibet is one of our "Red Dogs", sadly not easy and still waiting for a home

HKDR is certainly paying the price, literally, for being a No Kill Organisation as more and more of our dogs are moving into their senior years and suffering from age-related illnesses, from arthritis to cancer and everything in between.  It's hard enough having a single dog that needs special care and regular visits to the vet, but multiply that by many and you can understand the additional burden in terms of both time and money.  I know the HKDR staff and volunteers care a lot about the long-termers and don't resent the extra effort needed to take care of them, but there is an emotional price as well as financial when the dogs reach the end of their lives.  I know that feeling very well having lost many dogs over the HKDR years, mostly old but not always, and it's the worst part of doing this work.