Sat 30th April: Chance is still waiting for his chance

I have to hand out the heartworm tablets and apply tick prevention in stages as there are too many Lamma dogs to "do" in one go, and having picked quite a few tick "scuttlers" off the dogs recently I needed to start the monthly duties today.   May what is what I usually consider to be the start of the summer season, when all of the insects and spiders come out of hiding and ruin the enjoyment of my woodland walks.  While beating down cobwebs across the paths is annoying, it's the ticks that are the real enemy and tick fever is becoming more and more resistant to the old standby treatments.  In past years one injection of Berenil usually did the trick, but these days it's not having that effect any more and many of the puppies we see coming in with babesia and/or erlichia need a cocktail of drugs to eradicate the disease.   I know that many dog owners try to steer clear of the chemicals that are in tick prevention products but I think you need to weigh the prevention risks against the treatment, and having had two puppies die of a Berenil reaction, not to mention the months of medicine sometimes required, I am definitely in the prevention camp.  Tick fever can kill, and many dogs die every year in Hong Kong because of it, so please take care.

Happy Chance is hoping for a foster home so he can have his heartworm treatment

The three-legged dog, Chance, is still waiting for a foster home so he can have his heartworm treatment, another totally preventable condition that is unfortunately still so common in Hong Kong. He will be at Whiskers N Paws on Sunday in the hope that someone will see how lovely he is and will offer him a temporary place, his problem being that he is such a happy and playful boy that we can't let him go to a home with another young dog who will encourage Chance to jump around.  It's important that after heartworm treatment a dog remains calm and quiet,  as much as possible anyway, so let's see what happens.

Captain and Spock together for ever

I love to be surprised by unexpected adoptions, so I was very happy to receive an email today confirming that Noddy and Jonny, now Spock and Captain, would be staying for ever in their foster home.  These handsome brothers were part of a timid litter, two tan and two white, and now I have just one left.  Robbie was unfortunate in two ways, firstly that he had a stubborn case of tick fever which meant he couldn't go to Whiskers N Paws, and secondly that he was the most timid of all the litter.  Still, three out of four isn't bad when I remember how they hid away in a corner every Sunday just hoping they wouldn't be noticed and that five o'clock would come round quickly so they could go home.

Toby was the first of the litter to be adopted, and on his very first time at Whiskers N Paws

Fri 29th April: For or against Cap139b and what it means

Some of you will already have noticed that we have a new website up and operational at www.hongkongdogrescue.com, and the reason we haven't announced it formally yet is that I need to go through all the pages to check for errors or omissions.  That's what I spent today doing, in between other things of course, but I haven't managed to read everything yet and you will find some links are still blank and missing information.  Still, we finally have our forms and general information back up and I have already received some feedback, so now I just hope that we will soon be up to full speed again.  Please take a look and let me know if you spot anything that needs correcting or filling in, or have any comments in general.

These breeder dogs came to us a couple of years ago and this is what we need to stop/

If you are on Facebook and live in Hong Kong you may have seen the posts regarding a protest taking place on Saturday against the Proposed Amendments to Cap139b.  At first glance this might seem a good cause to support if you are an animal lover who cares about dogs and the awful breeders, but you need to understand the background and the result of this split between animal welfare groups. It's best explained in this open letter by Howard Wong (below), in which he admits that the proposals don't go far enough but that it's better than no changes at all.  Having started out on the same side as the Saturday protesters in wanting far more stringent conditions for all breeders, I realised after years of getting nowhere that accepting at least some protection for the poor animals was better than no protection at all. By blocking any hopes of an agreement which will see the proposed Amendments to the Animal Traders Regulations being passed, that means no hope for the dogs and a victory not only for the Saturday protesters but also for all the breeders, commercial or otherwise.  So please be aware, if you are planning on joining the protest, that you would not be marching for change, but against the proposed changes.  Please take a look at this SPCA video to understand why we, or more importantly the dogs, so desperately need help and protection https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqY_tTMS5-4 

Would you believe it that Hong Kong’s pet trading regulations don’t cover animals that you claim are your own pet? This huge loophole originates from a time when there was little commercial breeding of pets and was there perhaps to facilitate people getting rid of their pets in times when there was little in the way of adoption.

However this loophole has led to huge problems in animal welfare. The Animals and Birds Ordinance Cap 139 has a piece of subsidiary legislation called the Animals and Birds (Animal Traders) Regulation Cap 139b. This regulation requires people to be licensed if they sell animals. But it exempts licensing if the pet is one’s own pet. How do you determine if an animal is someone’s pet? The simple truth if you can’t and so many traders use this loophole to avoid the law and the conditions that licensing brings, such as routine government inspection, space requirements for animals, welfare requirements etc. 

In a bid to prevent this abuse and to protect the welfare of animals the Food and Health Bureau, in good faith, introduced amendments to the legislation to remove this loophole. In the future all those who sell dogs, for example, will need licensing. If you breed just a few at home (where welfare has been shown to be reasonable in the past with dogs treated as pets) then you get one type of licence. If you are into commercial breeding (which often sees the worst types of welfare abuse) then your licence brings more rigorous checks, stricter welfare protection for the animals, all in line with perceived risk to the animals. The system makes sense and is there to protect the animals. Even online traders who might try to evade the system are unable to evade as all advertisements for dog selling must be accompanied by the trader registration number. If you are not licensed or even if you are masquerading as a licensed trader, it is easy for a government official to lay a trap and catch these unregulated traders.

The amendments have met with some resistance with people saying the changes are not drastic enough, that they still legitimise trading of animals. Well, yes they do but they are a huge step in the right direction and the administration should be applauded for this move. Governments move in small steps, and this move should be supported by everyone who has animals’ best intentions in their heart. If these amendments do not go through some officials will feel disheartened and we may not get such a bold move for decades to come. I implore everyone to write to the Food and Health Bureau and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to support them in this move.

Dr. Howard WONG

B.A. (Hons), M.A., Vet.MB (Cantab) MPVM (UC Davis), MRCVS

Executive Director - School of Veterinary Medicine Director - Centre for Animal Welfare

Thurs 28th April: AFCD is never an acceptable solution

Little Mikey turned out to be a very sweet boy

It was a great feeling recently when I took the last puppy out of AFCD in Pokfulam and left a totally empty kennel block, laughingly telling the staff they could all go on holiday now.  I knew it would be a short-lived moment of happiness, as did they, and sure enough there were a lot of newcomers when I went today, only meaning to have a further two Lamma dogs' licenses updated.  All of the dogs now occupying the recently vacated spaces had been surrendered, including a traumatised chihuahua who I was warned to approach carefully, but who turned out to be a sweet little dog who was simply terrified.

Two of the other dogs were very friendly adults, with a third being a six or seven-months old puppy.  Fearing that this was an ex-HKDR puppy, I asked if that was the case and was told no, it was adopted from another organisation.  Fast forward to the evening when I was working at my computer once again, and I received an anguished message from a friend telling me that a puppy who was a regular playmate of her own dog had been taken to AFCD, and I recognised it as the same one I had seen earlier.  It had apparently chewed some stuff up, books or something, and was too full-on to handle.

The thing is, I don't care what a puppy or dog has done, if it is yours and you are responsible for it then you don't, under any circumstances, solve your problem by surrendering it to AFCD to be killed (because that is on the form that you sign).  The worst possible scenario is if you have a dog that becomes aggressive and repeatedly bites (and that doesn't apply to a puppy), and in that situation and if there is no alternative to having the dog put to sleep, you take it to the vet yourself and hold the dog in your arms while it is being injected with the fatal solution.  There is never any justification to hand your problem over to AFCD. Never.

As for the other friendly dogs whose owners had also taken the coward's way out, one came from public housing where dogs aren't allowed and the other, who rolled on its back in fear-submission and wiggled her legs in the air, had another unacceptable excuse which I can't even remember because it honestly wasn't worth the brain space.  I think it was that they had no time to take care of it but in any case it was nothing to do with any behaviour issues.

The dog inside this buggy prison is a beagle

As an update on the muzzled-dog-in-a-buggy story, it seems it's a beagle but I'm waiting to hear more from AFCD about the current situation.

Weds 27th April: What kind of psychopath does this?

This beautiful dog is about to be dumped by his family

I hear the strangest and saddest stories doing this work, and that's on top of the routine surrender requests that come in almost every day and which in themselves are depressing enough. Today I was told about a six year-old Alaskan malamute that was being left behind by his family, and he is just one of far too many whose lives and loyalty count for absolutely nothing in the end.  Knowing the way my own dogs rely on me for everything, from food and walks to love and security, it is just heartbreaking every time I read one of these emails.  They inevitably include some facts about how lovely the dog is and how hard the decision was to give it up, but no mention of how traumatic it will be for the animal itself or even how an already over-stretched organisation is supposed to be able to cope with yet another unwanted pet.  Somehow that never seems to come into the equation.

Minky and Rag are just two of the dogs that live with me and I would never dream of betraying their trust.

What kind of psychopath does this to a dog?

However the malamute isn't the strange and sad story I was referring to, this one is about a dog that had been abandoned on the street, muzzled and strapped into a buggy.  You can just about see from the photo that the dog's mouth is clamped shut by the muzzle, and I was told it was there for ten hours before being picked up and sent to AFCD. Seriously, what kind of person thinks that this is an acceptable thing to do?  I'm following up on the case and I hope I'll have some more details about the dog by tomorrow.

Of course I know that there are also many people who love their dogs and look after them as if they were their children, and I need to keep reminding myself of that fact. The following workshop information is aimed at such dog-loving families:

Workshop host Shireen has been working with essential oils and animals for a very long time and really knows her stuff

If you are interested in learning about how animals can benefit from aromatherapy you can find out by joining our Pet Aromatherapy Workshop which is taking place on Saturday 7th May (starting at 10am) at Autotoll Limited, 11/F, Tower A, Billion Centre, 1 Wang Kwong Road, Kowloon Bay

The workshop is hosted by Shireen Sonja Calucin MIFPA, NAHA, who has been working with essential oils and animals (as well as humans) for many years.  

Content includes how to use essential oils confidently and safely on your dog or cat:
- The benefits of using essential oils on your animal
- Essential oil Safety
- Introduction to useful essential oils for: Common skin problems, trauma/fear
- Demonstration on how to blend

Available on VGo - Member Price HK$380 Non-member Price HK$399

This workshop is jointly organised by HKDR andAutotoll Club. All registrations will be made via the phone app "VGo". Here are the instructions on how you can get started if you don't already have one installed.

1. Download VGo on App Store & Google Play

2. Register VGo account
(i) with Autotoll account; (ii) with email address

3. Complete registration

4. Activate VGo account with activation email

5. Sign up for the workshop on the VShop!

Tues 26th April: Two special cases

Orlando came to us in a very poor condition but has turned into a beautiful boy

I'm so happy to be able to start today's post with photos of dogs that have found homes, something that hasn't been happening with the frequency I would like over the past few months.  Maybe May and the promised good weather will change all of that and I'll be busy doing my favourite thing once again, but for now it was the turn of German shepherd Orlando to say goodbye to Tai Po, as well as new corgi Wallis leaving Ap Lei Chau.

Although extremely popular as a breed, corgis can also have their inbred problems

Wallis's adoption wasn't a surprise at all as we had so many enquiries about him.  Corgis are such a popular breed at the moment, and while I can't say I have any for-or-against feelings about them or any breed, it still saddens me that a name can mean so much and make the difference between a dog quickly finding a home, or languishing for months or years in one of our Homing Centres.

Having said that, I'm still holding out for a forever home for American cocker spaniel Leo, who at only three years of age is still a young dog with a whole lifetime ahead of him. Like almost all cocker spaniels he has his inbred issues and for that reason we can't consider a home with children, but he is a very loyal companion dog who would be perfect for the right kind of adopter.  That ideal home would be one where Leo could bond with someone and be his or her shadow and not be left alone for long. He is undemanding in every other way, his desire to be by his human's side overriding everything else.  Unlike most cocker spaniels he doesn't even need a huge amount of exercise and he would be happiest with a garden to call his own.  He is currently in a foster home where he is very happy, but unfortunately the other dogs don't like him and his foster  parents worry for his safety and have been pressing me to find Leo another home to move to.

It's such a shame that Leo can't stay in his current foster home, but move he must

Is there anyone who can give Leo the security and love he craves?  It will have to be someone who understands that dogs need time and space to adapt and adjust, because I can't deny that Leo has had an unhappy life so far and it has affected him. However having seen him in his current foster home and how content he is just to be by his human's side, I know he can be a great little dog with the right environment and person. Please email Cindy at foster@hongkongdogrescue.com if you can help Leo, as the situation is really quite urgent now.

Can you give Chance a chance?

There is another urgent case of a dog that needs a foster home, and that is three-legged Chance.  We have had lovely foster offers but in all cases there is another playful dog in the home, and it's very important that Chance doesn't get excited or run around after he has had his heartworm treatment. He is such a happy dog himself that it would be impossible to stop him jumping around if he had a playmate, so we are looking for a home with no other dogs.   There is a very good chance that Chance will go to Canada after his month of rest and recuperation, so it's extremely important that we can get his treatment started as soon as we can.  Again please email Cindy as foster@hongkongdogrescue.com if you can give Chance a chance.

Mon 25th April: Learning my own lessons

It's taken a while but now someone has come forward to claim this "Maltese"

As is so often the case each day brings good news and bad, and some which could fall into either camp depending on how you see it.  Someone came forward to claim the cocker spaniel-ish dog that was found wandering a couple of weeks ago, although there is confusion about who the actual registered owner is and even the breed of the dog.  The claimant says he is a Maltese, born in and brought over from Australia, while he looks very much like a spaniel to me.  Whatever he is, since he has been in a foster home and registered under HKDR with a "Temporary Keeper" status, the dog has started treatment for his bad skin and ear infection, although we have had to hold back on having dental treatment (much-needed cleaning and extraction) because I am not the official owner.  So while I am happy to reunite a dog with its long-term family, I'm not thrilled about the fact that it hasn't been properly cared for even if much loved, or that the license expired back in 2010.

Ex-HKDR Penny watches as Muesli meets the cat

The news about Muesli is definitely good as he continues to settle in well with his new family, cat included.  Although he is still only on a trial I'm pretty sure he won't be coming back, which is more than can be said for poor Lulu, adopted over the weekend and already being returned.  It's nothing to do with her or her behaviour, rather the arrangements made for her daycare while her official adopters are out at work.

Luckily Lulu has a foster to go back to

Over and over again I have seen arrangements with families, friends and neighbours fall through as the reality of having to take responsibility for someone else's pet sinks in.  It's a commitment that needs to be taken seriously, and too often it quickly becomes apparent that the person or people who may initially have enthusiastically agreed to be the babysitter have their own lives to think about and don't want to be tied to having a dog.   The same applies to adopters who say they can go home from work every lunchtime to walk the dog.  It's an unrealistic promise which also falls apart when the daily trek to and from the office leaves no time for anything else and becomes an unwanted chore.

Every time I ignore my own rules and approve an adoption for which I have made an exception I end up regretting it, and now it has happened again.   Luckily for Lulu she has a foster home to go back to, and maybe next time I'll remember what I have told myself.

Sun 24th April: Not a bad day considering

The rain stayed away long enough for some good games

As forecast it was a very wet afternoon, although fortunately the heaviest of downpours came as I was already on my way home with the only two puppies I had taken over to Whiskers N Paws with me.  Almost-identical brothers Sammy and Beefy started off as very timid baby pups who stayed hidden in the corner every Sunday, but now they are quite happy to join in the games and to meet and greet visitors.  All that's needed now is a home for them both.

With Marina and Magic now in foster, it seems I will have to bring a Lamma puppy over to keep Albert company at Ap Lei Chau

Lulu was adopted from her foster home

Although it was a quiet three hours in terms of adoptions, the earlier news that two foster pups had been adopted made up the numbers, and with three of the new babies going to foster homes it wasn't a wasted afternoon by any means.  The two adopted pups were Bethany and Lulu, with Macy, Marina and Magic finding fosters.

Bethany's foster status has been upgraded to adopted

Muesli from Tai Po was sent over to Whiskers N Paws to be picked up by his potential new family, and the early morning report received just now sounds promising, even if the cat did take over Muesli's bed.

Yesterday's mystery dog was Muesli, now being assessed by the family cats

Sat 23rd April: Can we start the year afresh?

Jill is the sweetest girl possible but she is still waiting

I've been sitting here in front of my computer for quite some time now trying to think what I can write about, and my mind is still a blank.  This year has been the quietest in terms of adoptions since we started keeping records, and to say that it's worrying would be an understatement.  It's not as if our "stock" can just be neatly put away in storage until needed, or that puppies who can't find homes have somewhere else to go, because that's obviously not the case.

Banjo (and lookalike siblings Athena and Sophie) are wonderful older puppies, also still waiting

This is what Sundays are supposed to be for

When I look at the photos of the Tai Po dogs that are posted on Facebook by our volunteers I'm reminded again about each individual and wonder how come that one hasn't been adopted yet, or that one, and so on. What is it about 2016 that seems to have got the year off to a bad start and kept it that way?  There were my own health issues which began in January and lasted three months (thankfully all over now), the terrible weather, the record number of celebrity deaths (not that they have anything to do with dogs or Hong Kong but still) and the seemingly never-ending public holidays which always affect weekend adoptions.  I try to stay positive and think that the bad months are in the past and then, goddammit, the weather is once again set to be appalling for Sunday and the Whiskers N Paws puppy afternoon.  We can be under cover or inside, but it still means that the older puppies who normally spend the three hours racing round the terrace will either have to stay at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre, where at least they can still be seen, or on Lamma, where they will miss yet another opportunity.

I have to accept that nothing can be done about the endless rain, but looking ahead there have to be changes made one way or another and indeed the seeds have already been planted, metaphorically speaking.  I will write more about that when the time comes because there is a lot of planning to be done, but at least it gives me something to work towards.

Someone's looking happy about his potential forever home.  Do you know who it is?

In the meantime I will start Sunday with hope for all of our dogs and puppies, and the knowledge that at least one will be leaving Tai Po for a trial to see how he gets on with the other dogs and cats in his potential forever home.

Fri 22nd April: Planning ahead

Look at Chance's happy smile!

The big story of the day is that of Chance, the three-legged dog I wrote about in yesterday's post.  At that time we had a foster home lined up where he could stay whether or not he would be flying to Canada, because at best it would be two weeks before he'd be on a plane.  Of course we hadn't actually met him at that point, and with the first foster offer being withdrawn at the last minute a second temporary home was made available as long as Chance wasn't a big dog.  Nobody knew his actual size, so I was asking as many people as I could think of who would be the first to meet Chance in person to let me know, and was quite sad to hear from Acorn that he was just under twenty kilos, and that's not taking into account the fact that he is missing a leg.  That meant that he was too big for the second potential foster home (it's the resident dog, not the humans, that stipulated the acceptable size), and with nowhere else to go he had to share his space with puppies and poodles.

I knew Chance would be a sweet dog because that would have to be a given for him to have been put up for re-homing by AFCD, but he's more than just that.  He's a wonderful, happy, kind and gentle boy, despite what was obviously not a good first year to his life.  It's not just the fact that somewhere along the line he lost a leg, but he is thin and in very poor condition - and he has heartworm.  That was the biggest blow of all, because although he can and will be treated of course, it would mean delaying a move to Canada if he was lucky enough to be chosen.

Whatever happens we need a foster home, and you can see from the video that was posted on our Hong Kong Dog Rescue Facebook page just how happy Chance is, and how little it matters to him that he only has three legs. (If you go to our Facebook page to watch Chance playing, please also scroll down and have a look at Doris, currently staying at Tai Po.  What a sweetheart!)

Wallis is now at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre

We also got a five year-old corgi boy, Wallis, from AFCD at the same time but he will have no problem finding a home.

As everyone knows, our website has been down for some time now and we miss it as much as everyone else does.  It's taking a bit longer than expected to get the new site up and running because there is so much information to include and Moxitek, who are donating a huge amount of time and effort to building our new website, want to make sure that everything is just right before the launch. Multi-tasking volunteer Andrea Chung is also working extremely hard from our end, so I'd like to thank everyone involved and to say how much I appreciate all the hours and expertise that are involved.

We've also started working on this year's Gala Dinner event and can confirm that the date will be Saturday, 1st October at the Aberdeen Marina Club.  For those of you who have attended past gala fundraisers, you'll know that we try to make each event as much fun as we can while bearing in mind that the ultimate aim is to reach our target of one million dollars raised.  We have a new volunteer organiser this year, Jamie Nunn, who with a supporting team is bursting with ideas about how to make this year's event as successful, fun and different as possible.  The venue will still be the same, but otherwise expect something totally new ..........

Thurs 21st April: A brief glimpse of the sun

All of these beautiful youngsters are waiting and hoping

We had a brief glimpse of some nice weather today, the calm before the expected weekend storms it seems, and I'm getting a bit more than fed up with the rain.  It's not that I care about getting wet myself, it's the thought of the coming Sunday and the Whiskers N Paws afternoon and the fact that I have a litter of puppies on Lamma that are growing bigger by the minute and they need to be seen and adopted.  I couldn't even get over last Sunday because of the fog, and in previous weeks I've just come over with a couple of hopefuls, but I'm facing another situation where the pups are going to get too old and too big to stand a chance.  We already have a collection of six month-olds, every one of them sweet and beautiful, and if we could at least move them on into homes of their own I could ship my Lamma bunch over to Ap Lei Chau.

Amos loves to be petted by anyone

Lovely Amos was one of those waiting for a home until very recently, and although he is still currently in his foster home he will be moving out to start his new life on Sunday.  In preparation for the big day I took him to AFCD today to get his rabies vaccination and license, and he showed once again what a fantastic puppy he is.  He's so happy and affectionate and he loves everyone he meets, and I can't imagine that there could be any nicer character than Amos.

Turpin could be either breed looking like this but he is licensed as a schnauzer

I had another new dog with me today, one that had been described as a poodle when he was found as a stray with long and matted hair, but who looked very different after a shave and is actually registered as a schnauzer.  I suspect he is a mix of the two breeds, but whatever he is he is very sweet with people and is still young at not quite six years of age. His name is now Turpin and he is available for adoption, along with our many other smaller sized dogs staying at the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre.

Stardust enjoying a dip last summer

It seems that I'm accompanied by a Lamma dog every time I make the crossing over to Hong Kong Island, and today it was the turn a Stardust, a "border collie" who came to me from AFCD about eleven years ago as a tiny bundle of black-and-white fluff with tick fever.  She wasn't expected to make it through the first night and I was asked if I would prefer to have her euthanised rather than wait for the seemingly inevitable, but I chose to give her a chance.  It took a very long time for her to make a full recovery which is why she is still with me all of these years later, but she has remained perfectly healthy despite her shaky start.  It wasn't an illness that made an emergency trip to Acorn necessary, but a very large gash in her elbow area which I could see needing stitching up rather than just leaving it to heal naturally.  She came back home after the repair work, a bit wobbly but she'll be fine.

Ending with another happy adoption update, this time it's the turn of Yuki, the shiba inu who spent eight years of her life at AFCD being kept as a test dog (used for testing owned dogs for exemption to the "on leash" requirement) before being released for re-homing. She has very quickly settled in to her new home and lifetsyle: "Yuki has been with us for a week and she's settled in perfectly well. We can't be happier with her. Yuki is enjoying her island life with daily hikes and beach runs. She follows us around the house glued to our heels, and is always keen for a fetch game. Despite her age, she's quite a runner! There are a few things she's still getting used to, such as TV and coffee machine noise... But all in all this sweet lady has brought so much joy to our life. We can't thank HKDR enough for rescuing her. Also just a shoutout to those considering to adopt - please give the senior dogs a chance, they have just as much if not more love to give."

Weds 20th April: Can you give Chance a chance?

We urgently need a foster for this 3-legged dog

The other day I mentioned a three-legged dog that's waiting at AFCD in Sheung Shui, in the hope that someone would feel enough compassion to give him a chance.  The dog is only a year old and I don't know his story other than the leg had to be amputated, but he must be a very sweet-natured boy to have been picked out by the vet for re-homing.   I'm not sure of the exact number of dogs that enter each of the four Animal Management Centres or the percentage of those that are lucky enough to pass the assessment, but there are still thousands being killed every year with many of them only being deemed too old to be suitable, or maybe too scared or just too ugly.  I really don't know what the "suitable for re-homing" criteria are as it depends on the individual AFCD vets, although I have had a good few disagreements over the years about dogs that I have thought adoptable but who have failed to make the grade.

I know that there are dogs and puppies that realistically will never become pets and I learned that the hard way, by taking wild puppies home convinced that all they needed was a lot of love and human interaction to turn them into sweet and cuddly companions. In some cases, if you take puppies that are young enough and whose parents haven't been feral for generations, this can happen, but for the most part these puppies will at best be happy to live with you though they will never be fully domesticated.  I have plenty of these types at my home, and although there is definitely a bond of trust that has developed over the years, which in some cases has even extended to include being able to touch and even cuddle, that only applies to me, the primary caretaker.  Such dogs will always be suspicious of strangers and anything outside of their familiar surroundings and routine.

Cindy on our foggy walk the other day

Cindy was the first such puppy I took from AFCD back in 2004, and I have written about her several times but more with regard to her having had cancer and her amazing remission, if not full recovery. She's an old dog now for her size, and although she is still coming along for the long morning walks she struggles with steep hills as the muscles in her back legs are weakening.  She also finds it impossible to get out of the storm drains where rainwater collects and which the dogs use for cooling off, and over the past week or so I have had to haul her out several times when she's become stuck inside one of the concrete channels.  After having lived with me her entire life Cindy still hates to be touched and I respect her choice,  but trying to help her climb out of the drain is made doubly difficult by her insistence on backing away from me when I reach out to get hold of her collar to pull her up.

14 year-old Murphy also still enjoys the morning walks and cooling off in the rainwater catchments

Going back to the three-legged dog and the fact that he is definitely nothing like Cindy or any of the previous "mistakes" I have made, there is a chance that he might have fallen on his one-missing feet after I was contacted by a couple who are interested in meeting him.  They will do so on Friday when we take him out of AFCD, along with a corgi that is also coming to us.  However, even if they like him and agree to adopt there is a snag, and that is that they are from Canada and will be taking the dog with them when they fly back.  That's great of course, but they can't have a dog where they are staying in Hong Kong and will need to leave him with us until they return home.  That means that we need a short-term foster for the dog from this Friday, whether or not he is lucky enough to get a "yes".

If you can help, please let Cindy know by emailing foster@hongkongdogrescue.com and help give this boy a chance.  In fact I will call him Chance, to remind me that it's all every one of our dogs need.

Tues 19th April: Another exciting day at AFCD

These 3 puppies are currently staying at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre

I was back at AFCD in Pokfulam today to take out a five month-old fluffy black puppy I'd seen last week. Some dogs and puppies are very easy, being happy, confident and more than willing to walk straight out of their kennels, but others need to be persuaded that nothing bad is about to happen. This particular puppy was very scared, but her body language and other signals were telling me that she would be fine once she felt safe, even though she was growling.  Sure enough, after I'd inched myself closer to her (sideways on) and slowly reached my hand out, she turned her head away to let me touch, and then pick her up to carry her out.  The microchipping part of the process can be daunting for a nervous dog or puppy, being approached from behind by a man or woman with a strange "thing" in their hands which is then stabbed into the back of the neck, but once the poop was cleaned up we were on our way.  Camilla is now at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre and I will have to wait to hear how she's coping with the other dogs and puppies there.  I'm sure Magic, Marina and Albert will be able to assure her that it's OK and that nobody is going to hurt her.

Nessa as a young adult at Whiskers N Paws

I had two more of my Lamma dogs with me to have their rabies vaccination and licenses renewed, and it's always interesting to see how they cope with being away from home and around cars, strange people and so on.  Of course with me they are just normal dogs, happy, friendly and relaxed, but they have little or no experience of the outside world. Today it was the turn of Nessa and Harry, both big dogs who were "failed" puppies three years ago, meaning that they had attended the weekly Whiskers N Paws puppy Sundays but had never been chosen.  They are both sweet-natured and love attention and cuddles, but while Nessa was remarkably calm and took the whole experience in her stride, Harry was beside himself with fear.  The moment the back of the van was opened he shot out and disappeared, running for his life (so he thought) round and through the  kennel blocks and desperately looking for a way out.  If there had been the slightest possibility of him being able to squeeze through a two-inch gap in the fence he would have taken it, but luckily  I was able to grab the trailing leash before he did himself any damage.

Mon 18th April: Has anyone seen Midget?

Amos was lovely with the cat but the feeling wasn't mutual

I got a nice boost in the morning with an email confirming the soon-to-take-place adoption of sweet puppy Amos, currently in a foster home.  Someone else had also chosen this lovely little boy only recently, but he had to come back when the resident cats showed their strong disapproval. The fact that he was quickly picked out again just proves what a great puppy he is, oozing charm, character and confidence (maybe we can categorise puppies and dogs as "3C" as a a quick and easy way of summing them up).

Fanta and Trixie are a perfect pair

Trixie had also previously failed the cat test, again not because of her but the cats themselves

Acorn had an emergency case in the afternoon so asked if it was possible to postpone my usual Monday appointment, which meant no AFCD visit or any Lamma dogs to take over.  I did however take one puppy with me when I left home, as new girl Marina had missed being at Whiskers N Paws on Sunday because of the fog and I didn't want that to happen again. With Trixie and Fanta moving out of the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre it made space for Marina to be reunited with her little friend Magic, as the pair had been sharing a kennel at AFCD and had been surrendered together. Although of a completely different size and appearance, these two are firm friends and Magic was thrilled to have Marina back by his side.  It was my mistake to separate them in the first place.

Big Belly and brothers

Now that the three pugs who were abandoned together in a cage have been formally approved for re-homing, I can share the first actual adoption photo.  Belly was the big one of the trio as well as the youngest, and you can see how he compares to his new peke and pug "brothers" in his forever home.

Your help is needed with a case of a missing pet who has almost certainly been picked up by someone assuming the dog was lost or had been abandoned.  It's a senior cocker spaniel who wandered off during a stroll on Lugard Road, the Peak, and vanished into thin air.  No doubt the finder of Midget is a kind-hearted dog lover, but Midget's family love her and want her back.  If you are that person or have any idea about where Midget is, please contact Graham Black ASAP on 9803 3715.

It seems likely that someone has found Midget and assumes she has been abandoned

Many dogs are indeed abandoned on the street in the hope that they will be found and taken in, and this is often the case.  However all such dogs should be scanned for a microchip so if there is an owner he or she can be contacted - or not as the case may be - and reunited if it's possible.  In fact the correct procedure, assuming that the finder wants to keep the dog, is to go to any AFCD Animal Management Centre and to register as the Temporary Keeper.  This also allows for a rabies vaccination to be given if appropriate, as more often than not any license has long expired.  You can't just find a dog and keep it if it has a microchip and a registered owner, although you can legally register a dog as yours if it has no microchip or the microchip is not registered to anyone and is still under the pet shop or breeder's name.  

Sun 17th April: Missing our website

The fog was thick on the morning walk

It's nice to wake up in the morning knowing you have a day off and that there's no need to rush to get things done, but only when it's planned.  I had a day at home today, but I only found out when all attempts to find a sampan that would take me and a few puppies over for the Whiskers N Paws afternoon failed due to the weather.  I understand that crossing the Lamma Channel in a small boat when you can't see the huge container ships coming is both scary and dangerous, but the fog had almost cleared by the time I needed to leave.  I was all dressed and ready with the pups in their crates before I accepted that any further attempts would be futile, so all I could do was to wish the regular Sunday volunteers good luck and wait for any happy news. Sadly that didn't come either, other than Trixie and Fanta going to a foster home together, so all in all it was a very disappointing day.  Now the fog has been replaced with rain again and the soggy cycle continues.

Albert (left) and Magic

At least we have puppies available every day at our own Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre, including new boys Magic and Albert, both of whom are somewhat bewildered at the moment after finding themselves in unfamiliar territory.  It's a good environment though for shy pups to overcome their fears, as they get used to different people coming and going and dogs of all kinds being around.

Although our new website should be ready any day now, not having been able to showcase our dogs for so long has really affected adoptions, and that's very sad. There are so many fantastic characters waiting for a chance of a new life, particularly at Tai Po, and under normal circumstances I'm sure they would have been taken long ago.  Building a whole new website is a huge job, and there is so much information that has to be included without even counting the hundreds of dog profiles. Please don't wait if you are thinking of adopting, and just drop by any day to either of our Homing Centres.  We are open every single day of the year from 10am to 6pm, no exceptions.

Sat 16th April: A Tale of Two Brothers

Neither of the new brothers will be at Whiskers N Paws this Sunday, but for very different reasons

When I went to AFCD during the week I picked up two young puppies that had been surrendered, clearly brothers although different colours.  I called the cream-and-white one Titus and the other black-and-white boy Atlas, and even before Dr Tony noticed that Titus already had a shaved neck, both he and I had spotted the paleness of his gums.  It seemed that whoever had left the pair of pups at AFCD had discovered that one of them was anaemic, most usually due to tick fever, because blood had obviously just recently been  taken.  Although Atlas seemed to be pink-gummed and much fatter than his scrawny brother, his blood was also tested just to be sure, and he was perfectly healthy. Titus, however, had a low red cell count and needed an injection of Berenil and to stay in hospital for observation.  Although very rare, some dogs and puppies have a bad reaction to the parasite-killing drug, and unfortunately I had already had one fatality, my first ever, only last year.  Nobody was expecting it to happen again, but it did, and little Titus started to suffer seizures and had to be euthanised.

It's an unfair world and there is no better example than these two baby boys, because as the call came from Dr Tony letting me know the bad news about Titus, his brother Atlas was just being adopted at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre.  We all seem to have forgotten to take photos these days so there are no pictures to share of either of the pups, although the family who took Atlas home have promised to send one very soon.

There was good news for the little cocker spaniel boy, now called Nathaniel, as he also left the Homing Centre after a very short stay, although because he's not formally available for adoption yet he was taken on a foster basis.

What a great setting for a yoga class

I was delighted to see the sun's rays when I got up in the morning, a very welcome change from the previous gloomy  starts to the day especially as there were two outdoor events taking place.  The first was Marcus Wong's yoga class (https://www.facebook.com/marcuswongyoga) at Central Ferry Piers, and there was a great turnout resulting in an almost $4,000 donation being made to HKDR.  So many thanks to Marcus, and to the participants for being there.

Thanks to both 2 and 4-legged volunteers for impeccable behaviour

The second event was the Inter-School Equestrian Challenge which HKDR was once again invited to attend.  The two four-legged volunteers this year were Oprah and Muesli, and as always they behaved like the brilliant stars they are.