Fri 25th Oct: New intake and other news

The two small dogs arrived at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre as arranged (thanks once again to Kaz of Freedom Rides) and went straight on to Acorn, along with six young puppies from AFCD Shatin.  There are five puppy girls and one boy and I need to come up with names by Saturday.

Tommy and Tori

As always the small adults weren't microchipped so ages had to be an estimate. The small female chihuahua cross was allocated eight years and the name of Tori while the male is now officially five and called Tommy.   They aren't really ready to go to the WeWork event on Saturday afternoon but they can be seen at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre any day.

We seem to be getting a lot of surrender requests and too many of our ex-HKDR dogs and puppies coming back.  I mentioned returnee Sadie the German shepherd, and in her case I actually asked that she be brought back to Tai Po rather than be sent to the Philippines,  which was the original plan.  There are some countries that are perfect for dogs and others that aren't, and while Hong Kong falls somewhere in between at least we can monitor dogs that are living here.

Honey was adopted as a baby pup and is now an unwanted adult

One of those dogs was adopted from HKDR as a puppy and her current situation was spotted on Facebook so we were alerted.   At first it sounded as though now-Roxy would be flying to the USA to join the family members already there, but suddenly that changed and it seems she will be coming back to us.

Both of Elle's back legs needed surgery

Another very sad situation is that of Elle, who was taken for fostering a long time ago when she needed leg surgery in the hope that she would move on to a permanent home once she had recovered.  Now the foster parent is leaving Hong Kong and despite efforts from both sides nobody has offered to take Elle in and she will have to be returned to our Tai Po Homing Centre.  Of course we're very sad, and after being so used to a real home environment and everything that includes, it will be a shock for Elle.  I know our staff and volunteers will do everything they can to help Elle settle back into Homing Centre life, but if anyone can make a last-minute offer of a home please let us know.

The surviving dogs from this nightmare case will be released for homing

Some other news which is both good but at the same time isn't going to be easy, the dogs that were being kept as evidence in the awful cruelty case will be put up for re-homing, initially through AFCD.   I have already offered to take in those that have been staying at the Pokfulam Animal Management Centre kennels, but there are many more spread around the other AFCD Centres and SPCA.  They are obviously in far better condition than when they first arrived, but they have been confined to their individual kennel spaces and the transition to the next stage of their lives may be difficult.   We may need to ask for your help when the time comes to move the dogs to our Tai Po Centre in terms of veterinary costs as we anticipate some hefty bills coming up.