Sat 30th Jan: Sad endings

 

The young doberman boy was surrendered to our Tai Po Homing Centre today, and he's a handsome dog even if he does have the sadly cropped ears.   He was apparently imported from Taiwan as a puppy, a country that ironically his now ex-owner is moving to, but without his dog. 

It was a busy day as expected at the Homing Centres, and two dogs should be leaving Tai Po as a result, both newcomers as it happens.  I'll share their names when they actually leave with their families.

Before I forget I need to mention a couple of cases of apparent poisoning cases resulting in the recent sad deaths of two dogs, one at Cyberport on the 24th of January and the other just today when the dog was at The Pulse in Repulse Bay with his owners after they'd been for a hike.  Both dogs died before anything could be done, and with the type of poison suspected there's little hope for survival anyway. Losing a dog is always hard, but under these circumstances even worse as it's so sudden and such a shock.  The Cyberport case wasn't the first in the area, so owners really need to be vigilant about letting dogs sniff in the bushes where the poisoned bait could be hidden, or to eat anything at all from the ground.  

Obviously the person or people who lay the poison are dog haters who don't care about the suffering of the animals, or their families who are left distraught and heartbroken.  It could be stray dogs that are the intended targets but of course it makes no difference as all animals are at risk.  I know from messages I have received over the years that there are a lot of people who see homeless dogs as worthless nuisances, and would happily see them dead.

We also said a sad goodbye to one of our lovely Tai Po seniors today when Otter was found to have died during the night, with bloat suspected to be the cause.  Otter was one of my Lamma puppies many years ago, and he had just recently been returned from his "Frostie Foster" home where he's enjoyed his stay very much.  As always the sadness isn't just that one of our sweet dogs has died, but also that he was never chosen to be a family member.