Thurs 6th Oct: Job vacancy as Site Maintenance Manager

The bulldog is living in this disgusting hole at the moment

I was expecting the bulldog to arrive today, and possibly the two Yorkies too, so kept my time free so I could take them straight to AFCD and Acorn.  As it turned out none of them appeared and now it seems we're back to Saturday again, but in so many cases (as with the golden retriever recently) the dogs simply disappear.  These are coming from a breeder so I hope that won't happen, but I'm never surprised when it does, although I feel upset for the dogs and wonder if they're OK.  The photos I was sent of the bulldog paint a terrible picture of his current living conditions and I can't wait to get him out.

Perry has been diagnosed with Fanconi syndrome

Another recent case of a dog not turning up was Perry the basenji after he was passed instead to another family, and when he did finally come to us it was because there was clearly something wrong. Apart from his rotten teeth and pus-filled gums, it seemed he had a kidney problem as he was drinking a lot and subsequently peeing gallons.  A urine and blood test showed even more, and it became apparent that Perry was unlucky enough to have inherited Fanconi syndrome, a disease that affects this breed. What's really sad is that if identified early enough the dog can lead a normal life and have a full life expectancy, but this wasn't the case with Perry and he already has renal failure.  That means that he is too ill to have the dental treatment he needs, so our first task it to try and stabilise his health in the hope he will respond.

Momo is a very happy dog now

Another case we're dealing with is Momo the old golden retriever who was rescued from a miserable existence on a rooftop, unable to stand and with open and maggot infested pressure sores.   Momo is very happy now and enjoying the comforts of a real (foster) home, but he's an old boy and not well.  He's been back and forth to the vet for this and that, and today he had a battery of tests to try and find the cause of his anaemia, which isn't tick fever as first suspected.  The bill for today's tests alone was $8,000, and so far we have spent around $20,000 on Momo.   I spoke to the vet (not Acorn) about this case and how far we could go in terms of treatment, and the fact is that Momo will die of old age before too long regardless of what illness he has.  This is the dilemma that faces us as a charity using donations to cover costs, and how we should spend that money.   I agreed to the tests knowing that the results weren't going to make much of a difference, but hoping that if there was something that was easily treatable it would be found.

The "Game of Bones" Fundraising Gala was a great success, and thanks to volunteers Jamie and the organising team, sponsors and our guests of course, we hit our target of one million dollars raised.   That sounds like an awful lot of money, which indeed it is, but when you consider that our monthly outgoings average six hundred thousand you can see that relatively it's not.  However, a lot of the money pledged was to go towards renovating the Tai Po Homing Centre which is badly in need of a makeover.   Jamie has once again stepped into the breech as Project Manager for this particular task (a huge one), but it's become apparent that we need ongoing help with site repair and maintenance, so we are now looking for someone to fill that vacancy.  The Site Maintenance Manager must be self-motivated and able to work without supervision, as well as having the necessary skills and a love of dogs. If this sounds like something you would like to do (and yes, it will be a paid post), please email me with your details at sally@hongkongdogrescue.com