Fri 2nd July: One of those days

 Some days just don't go well and today was one of them.   It doesn't matter how long any one of us has been doing rescue work or how many times a dog or puppy in our care has died, it's always painful when it happens again.  I sent one of my Lamma dogs to Acorn after she suddenly became very tired and lethargic with laboured breathing, and when an X-ray showed her lungs were full of tumours I had to let her go.  What's incredible is how long she hid it, as it wasn't until the other day that I'd even had any inkling that there was something wrong, yet when I thought back I recalled that she had a very slight cough when she was eating.  As silly as it sounds, there's a group of dogs that gather round me every morning to be spoon fed, standing with paws on the kitchen counter as they get their spoonful in turn, and Butter was one of them.  When I heard the little occasional cough I assumed it was the food causing it, but now it seems it was far more than that.

Such a sweet dog Cyrus 

Super-sweet Tai Po dog Cyrus is also very sick and in hospital with the thing we all dread, distemper virus.  This almost always affects puppies but unvaccinated adult dogs can also become infected, and although most grown dogs can usually fight the disease in some cases their immune system isn't strong enough for whatever reason.  Cyrus hadn't been with us long enough to have received the two necessary 5-in-1 vaccinations so he was still vulnerable.  He's getting all the supportive care possible. but with viral infections it's really a dog's own strength that will determine the outcome. 

Lorna isn't feeling well 

Even worse is that mother dog Lorna is now not well, and the fear that she has somehow also contracted the virus is turning into a nightmare.  Of course if she is sick then her newborn babies are at high risk, and we urgently need experienced fosters to take care of the five puppies while Lorna is seen by a vet and treated accordingly.  We knew of course that Lorna's previous owners hadn't been responsible enough to have her desexed before throwing her out when they moved, but it's quite possible she also hadn't received any vaccinations against infectious diseases either and may now pay the price. 

If you can foster Lorna's puppies (we will need them to go as a pair and then three) please email Cindy at foster@hongkongdogrescue.com.  We really need experienced foster parents with realistic expectations on this occasion. 

By the end of the day and having had to deal with all of this bad news, I wasn't in the frame of mind to be tolerant with a past adopter who had chosen not to desex the dog (a corgi) because she wanted him to become a father.   I needed to remind this person that an agreement is signed by all adopters of puppies that they will desex at the appropriate time, and it's not up to them to later "change their mind".