Thurs 8th Aug: A ban on the sale of pet shop puppies is needed

Scamp is 7 months old 

My daily schedule is so routine that I think the van could do it without a driver, but at least the view from Ap Lei Chau and Pokfulam is pleasant enough, and I can be busy replying to emails during the drive to Sai Ying Pun.  I had to take some new dogs to AFCD for licensing, and picked up a surrendered poodle while I was there.  She's the happiest and friendliest little girl, but she has some health issues which is why her owner chose to abandon her at AFCD.  I managed to find out the name of the vet clinic the poodle had been going to so at least we have a starting point for treatment, and there's no sign of any ill health in the dog's behaviour.  She's very bouncy and happy, but also needy like so many poodles, and it's clear she's used to being carried.  That makes her surrender to AFCD even more sad, and quite incomprehensible really.

Scamp is a lively and energetic boy

Sometimes, too often to be honest, I can only shake my head and wonder about people.   Like this morning when I got an adoption request for one of our doglets from someone who already has a shiba inu puppy which is left alone for nine hours a day and walked once for fifteen to twenty minutes. Maybe I should be happy that it appears the dog does get out of the small apartment every day, albeit for a very short time, but how can a dog develop healthy behaviour when it has no companion, nobody to play with and nobody to train it?  This is how behaviour issues start, and once they exist they're very hard to remedy.  Shiba inus aren't the easiest breed to begin with, yet everywhere I go I see shiba puppies fresh from the pet shops, or corgi puppies, another breed that often has behaviour issues. 

Animal welfare has never been high on the agenda for discussion in Hong Kong, and although there are proposed changes to the laws slowing working their way through the system, they aren't enough and will take far too long to come into effect.   What is needed right now is a ban on the sale of puppies (and kittens) in pet shops as a way to stop the impulse purchase of baby animals as though they were lifeless commodities.  As much as we try to educate and to change the perception of mixed breeds and adoption rather than buying, the breeders and pet shops are thriving, churning out puppies to cater for the market in stupidity and selfishness. It has to stop, right now.

Charlie is very chilled and easy, 3 years old. 

Going back to the new dogs and puppies we've taken in, these are all smaller dogs, young and lovely.  They didn't have microchips but two are estimated as being three years old, with one being just a seven month-old puppy.   Other than a bit of an ear infection in one they're all in good health, and are very friendly.  The puppies are just gorgeous of course, and I know we won't have any trouble finding them lovely homes.

Buddy is also estimated to be 3 years old.