Weds 3rd July: Once pets, now abandoned

Noddy has a garden in his foster home

The on-off and very sudden rain squalls make the boat crossing from Lamma to Ap Lei Chau interesting, and while I normally wouldn't be venturing out on a Wednesday I had to go over to the Homing Centre to pick up German shepherd pup Noddy to bring back for fostering with my neighbours.  He's now happily installed and enjoying having a real garden, at least when it's not pouring with rain.

Puppies need company and play

Meanwile the younger puppies staying at Ap Lei Chau are having their own kind of fun, playing and scampering around, not thinking about anything other than the fact they are safe, dry and have lots of friends as well as plenty to eat.  That's really how any puppy's life should be, not alone all day and shut in a cage, and that's why we would rather keep our dogs at the Homing Centres than send them to be unhappy in homes that really don't have the time for a dog.

We don't believe that any home is better than none, and the fact that so many animals are abandoned, surrendered or simply dumped supports our way of thinking.  You only have to visit our Tai Po Homing Centre to see what I mean, and we encourage everyone to come and take a look at the hundreds of dogs that were at one time someone's pet, many of them purebreeds bought for large amounts of money.

Beautiful Moses, once a pet, now abandoned

Once pets, now abandoned: Atom, Kira and Tasha

Quite simply, if you are out at work all day and would need to leave a dog (or even worse a puppy) alone at home without any company, don't have a dog.  You can volunteer and spend as much time with dogs as you can spare without having the commitment of a live animal at home that is isolated and unhappy.  Having a dog shouldn't be about what you want for the short time you have to spare in a day, it's about a dog's needs, and that's companionship more than anything else.