Mon 10th April: Fosters and volunteers

Will Archer be lucky soon?

 I'm feeling just a little bit excited and optimistic today,  with the end of the extended holiday period meaning more adoption enquiries coming in, even though of course not all result in a dog or puppy going home.  At least it's better than the ultra-quiet past week, and I know that I'll have some happy news to share in the coming days. 

I can say that the adorable puppy Cola, who came to us with an old leg fracture and, it turned out, with both knees probably needing surgery when she's older, has a home to go to later this month.  The delay is because of her family-to-be currently being out of Hong Kong, but Cola is safe in a foster home for the time being. 

Some of you may have seen the comments from one individual regarding foster homes on our Hong Kong Dog Rescue Facebook page, and although I think his views are misguided (to say the least), there is some truth in the fact that from a dog's point of view, a home is a home.  A dog doesn't know that a foster home means temporary, and that at some point he or she will need to move on, hopefully to a forever home, but there's two sides to this situation.  

A puppy foster home means the puppy will learn from an early age how to fit in with the human way of life, and hopefully that will include toilet training and basic obedience.  Puppies are far more adaptable than adult dogs, so leaving the foster home isn't as traumatic as it can be with older dogs,  and settling in with a new family is almost always quite quick and easy.  For example, I'm sure many of you have followed the success stories on Instagram@why_i_foster, and seen the benefits of an early happy home life.

Marcus arrived with a badly repaired hip

For adults, we really ask for foster homes when the dog has had surgery or some sort of health issue which means being away from other dogs is advisable.  If a dog has had knee or hip surgery, the last thing it needs is to be bumped or jumped on by other dogs, so a quiet space is needed during the healing period.  Poodle Marcus is in this situation, and we still need a new foster home for him so he can not only recover from hip surgery, but also  attend physiotherapy sessions in Wanchai.  These are really important because Marcus hasn't used one back leg for such a long time that he's reluctant to put it on the ground now.  There's no longer any reason for this except psychologically he's expecting it to be painful, so he has to be encouraged to use the leg properly.   This is an urgent case so please contact Cindy at foster@hongkongdogrescue.com if you can help. 

I also wanted to mention another part of HKDR that's vital to us being able to help so many dogs, and that's volunteering.  We have been aware of the long waiting list for potential volunteers, particularly at our Tai Po Homing Centre, and also of the high fall-out rate for new volunteers, some of whom never return after the orientation.   It's unfair on those who genuinely want to become part of the volunteer team to have to wait for a place that's being taken by others who aren't serious, so we're completely overhauling the system to discourage anyone who really just wants a day's adventure and nothing more.  This unfortunately means putting a hold on new applications for the time being while we clear the backlog, and once we re-start we will have a new system which will be much faster and more effective.  Apologies to everyone who is keen to help out, and please be patient for a while longer.

Finally, thank you again to everyone who has donated over the past week after our cry for help.  I genuinely appreciate the support shown, and I hope that by bringing our plight to the public's attention we will attract more long-term donors.  Several smaller businesses have also offered their help, for example Nuttea, who will donate $1 for every drink sold during April weekends.  Drink up and donate!