When I think back to the time we opened our first Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre (in 2011 as I recall) it was a very small shop on Main Street with enough space upstairs for a few pens and with two tiny rooms. At that time we didn't have many small dogs coming in so the area was adequate, although as time went by we started to get a bit crowded. We then moved round the corner to a larger space, keeping Main Street for our "Red" dogs and newcomers, so again for a while we were fine as far as the number of dogs was concerned.
Sadly we had to vacate our Ap Lei Chau Centre due to the developers moving in and buying up just about everything in sight, and we ended up needing to take over two separate shops in Kennedy Town, one at Brilliant Court and the other in North Street. Then came Covid and suddenly everything changed, with few adopters and many more dogs coming in, and we have never returned to "normal" after that, with the new normal being lots of dogs and puppies needing to be looked after and with not enough homes available. Now we are on the move again, having to leave Elgin Street very soon, and our North Street Centre, so things are stressful to say the least.
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| Pierre was one of the very lucky ones, finding a great home today |
The only thing that hasn't changed is our adoption policy, because we know from experience that lowering standards isn't helping the dogs, and it also results in more being returned or subsequently abandoned. Education has always been a large part of what we do, and that means making sure to the best of our ability that our dogs and puppies go to homes that we feel can provide what a dog needs for a happy and healthy life.
You must know that our large Homing Centre in Tai Po is home to hundreds of dogs, some of whom grew up with us and who are now seniors. It's a struggle to cover the costs of taking care of so many, so we're grateful for all donations, including the invaluable support from Buddy Bites who donate large amounts of food on a regular basis.
However, the number of dogs now having to be accommodated at the much small Kennedy Town end of the operation is growing all the time, and we now have so many that we're in desperate need of foster homes as well as (suitable) adopters. Iris, the Kennedy Town Manager, made a list of all the dogs and puppies, both at the two Centres and in foster care. It's really quite frightening to see so many names listed like this, so if you can help with fostering please complete the form at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/volunteer/fostering/, and for adoption it's at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/
You can find details of the adult dogs on our website at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/dogs/, although puppies aren't included as they grow and change too quickly for us to be able to keep up:
Brilliant Court, KT:
Wow! That's a staggering list!
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