Thurs 15th May: Grand Opening of ALC, and more dogs coming in

 You can see the photos of the official opening party for our new Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre here  15May2025_ALC Grand Opening, as well as the many lovely little residents who are enjoying our cage-free facility until they find their forever families.  I want to mention that particular fact, because it's so important that dogs can socialise, play, and make their own decisions about where they want to sleep, and who with.    We strongly believe in not crating or caging dogs, or at least having no door on the crate, allowing the dog the freedom to move in and out at will.  Even the dogs that aren't sociable enough to be able to mix freely have their own space that's large enough for them to be able to run around and not be confined, and it's something that makes a huge difference to a dog's mental condition. 

Apart from the dogs that are already with us, we've just been asked if we can accept more, both small adults and puppies, as well as large adults.  Not shown in the photo are golden retrievers, and as these are always a popular breed I hope they won't have to stay with us for very long.  As always, please complete the adoption questionnaire if you're interested in any dog or puppy, and you can find the form at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/.

I want to give a special mention to our long-term partners, Whiskers N Paws, who have been hosting our Sunday Puppy Parties for many years, as well as supporting in many other ways, including the amazing food provided for today's opening party.  You can visit the in-store cafe to try the food out for yourselves, and remember we'll be back on Sunday with our gorgeous puppies-in-waiting, 2pm to 4pm.

There was more good news from the "renovation fosters" of some small dogs that needed a place to stay in the period between us moving out of our Kennedy Town Centres and into Ap Lei Chau.  Preston will be staying forever, as will Kingsley, who is now called Whiskey.  There's never any pressure on foster parents to adopt, but of course we're always delighted when it happens.

Sat 10th May: We're fully operational at Ap Lei Chau

 Now that we're fully operational at our new Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre, we're starting to fill up quickly with new dogs, as well as our previous residents and foster dogs starting to come back from their temporary homes.  Happily not all are returning as some were adopted during their "holiday" (Tinker for example), but obviously not all were so lucky.

The new dogs are lovely, all very sweet and happy characters, but as you will probably have already seen there are two that need surgery on their legs.  One is tiny poodle Gimlet, whose previous injuries are quite severe and will need specialised surgery followed by physiotherapy to get the leg working again.  Thank you to everyone who has donated so far towards the surgery cost, and to Heal (located in Horizon Plaza, next to Whiskers N Paws) for offering to provide the essential physiotherapy afterwards.  We're extremely grateful for the kindness shown when dogs need that extra bit of help.

Noodle the Whippet is the other dog who will be having surgery next week, fortunately less complicated than Gimlet's, but his problem is a result of previous surgery gone wrong.  As I have said before, it's really important that you choose the surgeon carefully if your dog needs bone or joint repair because if not done properly the effects will last a lifetime. 

I went with the new dogs to AFCD on Friday to have them microchipped and licensed, and they were all very sweet and brave.  As usual I feel in love with all of the fuzzy-faced terrier types, and particularly Griff.  It seems that he has been in a home before because he was very relaxed, wanted to sit on my lap, and jumped into the (volunteer's) car as if he was very used to it.  

On Sunday we'll be back at Whiskers N Paws with our lovely puppies, and everyone is welcome to come along to meet them between 2pm and 4pm.  To make things easier, please complete the adoption questionnaire in advance so you won't have to do it there.  It's at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/.

Mon 5th May: Open for business at Ap Lei Chau!

It's taken a long time, including many months of discussion, negotiation and planning,  but we are finally ready to open the doors to our new Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre at 13-15 Wai Fung Street, just a few doors down from our previous location.   

This means that our "renovation foster" dogs will be coming back, at least those that haven't been adopted during their home-stay holiday, and we'll also be taking in new dogs starting on Tuesday when we'll receive two beagles, a corgi and a ten month-old whippet.  On Wednesday there will be more smaller dogs coming, so as always if you're interested please start by completing the adoption questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/.

We still have so many gorgeous puppies available for adoption, and you can see their photos here  Puppy Adoption Day 4th May 2025, taken at Sunday's Puppy Party by Lauren Cheung. 

I'm thrilled to be able to report some happy adoptions from our Tai Po Homing Centre, including Crinkle (who I think I've already mentioned), Ruthie, and soon-to-be-adopted Flippy.  Many of our dogs wait years before being chosen, so it's always a special occasion. 

Since I don't have the time to write a daily blog these days, please keep updated on what's happening by checking our HKDR Facebook page, or Instagram @hkdr_official.   We have all sorts of events taking place regularly, and you won't want to miss out. 

Sat 27th April: Just a week to go!

 It's been strangely quiet since we moved all of the dogs out of our Kennedy Town (Brilliant Court) Homing Centre, although for the time being we're still occupying our North Street premises.  That's due to come to an end as well in a week's time when we move everything and everyone to Ap Lei Chau, combining both Kennedy Town Centres as well as the office into one space, making life a lot easier for volunteers and adopters too.  We actually take the place over on the 30th April, but will need to prepare everything before the dogs can move in, and that will probably be next weekend. 

Of course the dogs and puppies that had to move into temporary foster homes to allow the fixtures and fittings to be removed from Brilliant Court and transferred to Ap Lei Chau, are still available to meet (and adopt), and Cressie was one of the lovely puppies who met her new family during her foster stay.  While she now won't be at Whiskers N Paws for the Sunday Puppy Party, 2pm to 4pm, the gorgeous four youngsters that have been with me on Lamma will be making their debut this weekend, and I should issue an "too adorable" warning in advance.  It's been a long time since I've been woken early in the morning by the sounds of puppy play, and while it always makes me smile I hope all four will find their forever homes, or if not forever then at least fosters. 

The Samoyed that we were asked to take from AFCD was adopted even in advance of his arrival at Tai Po, and his new family are very experienced with the breed having had several before.  

For all adoption enquiries please start by completing the questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/.

For fostering please complete the form at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/volunteer/fostering/

Mon 21st April: We're still open for business even without a Kennedy Town Homing Centre

 It seems strange not to have a Kennedy Town Homing Centre any more, although the North Street (Kennedy Town) space is still operational until we can finally move all of the dogs to our new Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre on the first of May. I imagine it will take some time for everything and everyone to settle in, but at least we're familiar with the area and the facilities. The new place is just a few shops away from our previous location meaning the dog park and dog-friendly waterfront promenade are almost on the doorstep, which makes things very easy for the dogs and the volunteers.  

Even with all of the upheaval of packing up and getting dogs into foster homes for the ten days when there will be no Homing Centre, we're still carrying on as usual with adoptions and handling enquiries, and one lucky dog was adopted just minutes before doors closed at Brilliant Court for the last time.  This was Soda, and as we had a foster home arranged for him it meant a temporary home for Kingsley instead. 

Of course we hope that some of the dogs going to foster care won't be coming back, although we know that for most it's definitely a temporary situation. Poodle/bichon Bobbin was the first to have his foster status changed to adopted, and adorable little chihuahua-cross Pammy was only fostered for a matter of a day before her forever status was confirmed.  There are a few others who will probably not need to move back to Ap Lei Chau, but I'll wait for confirmation before naming them.  

As you must know by now, the adoptions at our Tai Po Homing Centre are especially happy ones because they don't happen often enough, even though the dogs are lovely and so deserving of a second chance.  Today it was the turn of Crinkle, the sweetest girl, and she has finally found her own family to love her.  

With the Easter holidays finally over (it's always slow during long breaks), I hope that will mean more dogs finding their forever homes.  If nothing else, I want to move the four puppies that are currently staying with me on Lamma, because they're not only incredibly beautiful but also super-friendly and desperate for human attention.  Under normal circumstances these youngsters would have been adopted within minutes, I'm sure, so let's see who the lucky families will be to take one or two of them home. 

For all adoption enquiries please start by completing the questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/. 

Fri 18th April: The end of the Kennedy Town era

 Another reminder that this will be our final weekend at our Kennedy Town Brilliant Court Homing Centre, although we will remain at North Street until we can move into the new space in Ap Lei Chau.  Our call for temporary foster homes has resulted in almost all of the dogs having somewhere to stay during the ten days when the fixtures and fittings at Brilliant Court will be dismantled for re-installation at Ap Lei Chau, so a huge thank you to everyone for helping to make this possible.  The few dogs that are still without foster homes will have to be squeezed in at North Street, but hopefully there will be some late offers of foster homes on Sunday.

Obviously we have had to stop taking in any more dogs during this period, but this morning I got a message asking if we could accept five exceptionally gorgeous puppies.  They needed to be moved from wherever they were immediately, and having nowhere else to go I made the decision to say yes, while frantically posting their photos on Facebook in the hope that we could find fosters or adopters before they arrived.

I'd made other plans for the day but then dropped everything to try to arrange some space on Lamma to temporarily park the puppies, with everything being made doubly difficult due to it being a long holiday weekend and with so many people being away.  Thankfully one of our wonderful supporters (and adopter) was available to pick the puppies up from Kennedy Town with his car, and to drop them off on a sampan to send to Lamma.  In the meantime there was one offer of a foster home, so in the end four beautiful babies came to me until a better situation could be found. 

The photos don't really do justice to these adorable babies, and apart from being ridiculously cute they're also super friendly and desperate for attention.  If you're interested in adopting please complete the questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/, or even foster homes would be appreciated (the form is at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/volunteer/fostering/.

If you would like to see videos of the puppies, I'll be sharing the on my Instagram @sallythedoglady.

Of course there are other equally gorgeous puppies also waiting for homes, and they will be at our regular Sunday Puppy Parties at Whiskers N Paws, Horizon Plaza, Ap Lei Chau (and you can take another look at last Sunday's photos here Puppy Adoption Day 13th April 2025 ).

There's some very happy news to share, as tiny Pammy's foster home very quickly changed to forever, a wonderful ending to a sad story. 

Also my Lamma dog Irwen, who was already suffering from a very bad heart condition before a freak accident which resulted in him losing an eye, is finally on the mend.  I had even reached the point of booking a vet appointment to have him euthanised when he was so low that the situation seemed hopeless, but the afternoon before the dreaded day arrived Irwen got up from his bed and asked for some chicken.   Of course his heart is never going to get better, but for now the crisis has been resolved, along with the stress that I was experiencing. 

Sun 13th April: One more week at Kennedy Town!

 I just had to share these beautiful photos of today's Puppy Party, even though they're already up on our HKDR Facebook page Puppy Adoption Day 13th April 2025.  We have so many gorgeous youngsters waiting for homes as you can see, so whether you like fluffy, scruffy or flat-coated dogs, we have just the right puppy for you.  

Eric Tang was the photographer today, and if you have been following HKDR for a while you'll probably recognise Eric's amazing talent and style.  Remember, if you're interested in adopting a puppy, or an adult large or small, please start by completing the questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/.

We have just one more week left at our Kennedy Town Brilliant Court Homing Centre before we have to move all of the dogs out prior to the move to a new Homing Centre in Ap Lei Chau.   To save money, we will be dismantling as much as possible from Brilliant Court to use again in the new location, so of course the dogs can't be there during this ten-day period.  Many of the current resident dogs have been offered temporary foster care, which is fantastic, thank you, but we still need more short-term foster homes so we can completely vacate Brilliant Court. 

Gorgeous puppies Cressie and Annie are currently in their lovely foster home, and you can check them out on Instagram @the_little_c_hkdrfoster 

We're also very happy that tiny chihuahua-cross Pammy has been offered a new foster home after previous fosters found her constant little "puddles" too challenging to deal with.  I'm not blaming them, by the way, because I understand why this could be an impossible situation, I'm just thrilled that despite knowing about the issue, one of our wonderful adopters has come forward. 

Of course even while we're trying to move the dogs and puppies out, there are still others in need of rescue, and we've been asked to take in a litter of young puppies from our long-term "rescue auntie".  I've attached a photo in the comments, so please let us know if you can help by taking in a pair.   We will provide everything that is needed in terms of food etc, we just need the home and loving care.  

Please complete the form at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/volunteer/fostering/ if you can help with these babies, or any of the Kennedy Town residents.