Sat 28th Jan: Starting the Year of the Rooster

Bertha's new life was tragically short

It wasn't the best start to the Year of the Rooster when I got a call from Dr Tony telling me that the bulldog Bertha was really not in a good way and I gave my permission to let her go.  It's always sad, but in this case even more so after Bertha had been through so much and was looking forward to a whole new life beginning. A bad reaction to a drug for tick fever had brought a premature end to terrible years as a breeder dog, with only a short time in a foster home offering a glimpse of what could have been.

Gertie has never been found

I was also reminded of other ex-breeder dogs that we have recently saved only for them too to have died or disappeared, and coincidentally two of them sharpeis from the same breeder.   Carol was only with us for a short time at Christmas, while Gertie was lost from her home in Tung Chung, Lantau, a few weeks earlier and has never been found.  

This was the only photo taken of Gem before she ran off

Gorgeous little poodle Gem was undoubtedly picked up by someone within seconds of running out of the Homing Centre and the chances of seeing her again are slim.  My biggest fear is that she will be sold to a breeder, a living nightmare for any dog.

Thanks to the donor of these lovely dogs beds for our two new ex-breeder poms

While our Homing Centres were open for business I stayed at home, and as I wasn't pressed for time I allowed both Bali and Murphy to come along on the morning walk. They are both very slow, although these days even Murphy is stronger and faster than Bali, whose back legs crumple and collapse every couple of steps.  I'm torn between leaving him at home, which he hates, or letting him come along but having to watch him struggle. So today when I couldn't bear it any longer I picked him up and put him in Murphy's new buggy, a gift from a volunteer.  Initially Bali seemed a but worried, but it only took a few seconds for him to relax and enjoy the ride.  Sadly this can't be a regular event as both dogs still have to walk up a steep path to where the "car" is parked, and back down again at the end, although it really solves the problem of being able to get the older dogs out without putting too much strain on them.

I never thought I'd ever be pushing dogs around in a buggy

I've been getting lovely updates from the Chinese New Year puppy foster homes, like this one about Jade, so can I ask everyone who is taking care of a puppy (or two) to post on our Hong Kong Dog Rescue (HKDR) Facebook page.  That way I can share and show all of the puppies off to potential adopters, thanks!

Baby Jade needs a home

Just to let you know Jade is doing well. She's such a lovely puppy, very bright and inquisitive, relatively independent but still very affectionate and loves attention. As a first time foster I have no frame of reference but she's not difficult to read and picks up on things very quickly so she'd be perfect for a first time dog owner. And of course she is ridiculously cute. I was going to take some nice pictures of her with a good camera in case you wanted to generate interest ahead of the next puppy adoption day, however these iPhone ones I've posted on Facebook have had so much attention (general consensus from Tokyo to Durban to Liverpool to New York is that she's possibly the cutest puppy ever) so I thought I'd send these to you now in case you could use them.