Thurs 4th April: Shibas and student volunteers

Dewy is adopted 

 We said a happy goodbye to another one of our ex-breeder shibas today, this time Dewy, while also taking in another shiba puppy with a horrible story.  

Nikki survived almost drowning 

Bought from a breeder (an illegal one as usual), somehow now-Nikki ended up in the sea and almost drowned.  Due to the results of being in the water for long enough to render her unconscious, Nikki ended up in hospital and needing extensive and expensive treatment.  Luckily, as the owners no longer wanted her, a very kind individual took over the responsibility for the care, and costs, until Nikki was well enough to be discharged.  We were asked if we could accept the puppy at that point, and Nikki is now with us at Kennedy Town.  She's six months old, and while it seems her jaw was broken at some point she's otherwise pretty much recovered from her awful experience.  If you would like to offer Nikki a home, or even a foster period, please complete the questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire, or go to www.hongkongdogrescue.com/volunteer/fostering/.

Bumper is now called Beauchamp

I'm also happy to share that after a trial period with the resident poodle, French bulldog Bumper had had his forever status confirmed, and with the new name of Beauchamp.  (In England this would be pronounced Beecham, but maybe he's a Bo-champ, not that it matters).  

There was never any doubt that Bumper would find a home one way or another as we had many nice offers, just as we have for the Weimaraner boy who will be coming to us from AFCD on Friday.  In fact I hope he'll be in his new home by Friday afternoon, and even if not he'll be adopted for sure over the weekend.  Unfortunately, despite his young age the Weimaraner already has heartworm, so we can safely assume his ex-owner was irresponsible as well as being something else which I won't name.  Anyone who surrenders their dog to AFCD rather than to any one of the Animal NGOs that would happily accept a young and popular purebreed, clearly cares nothing for their dog. 

Ariel's family fostered Lily and Lambert, both now adopted

We're getting a lot of messages from students asking if they can volunteer at our Homing Centres as part of their school projects.  Unfortunately, as much as we appreciate the goodwill behind such offers, we have a minimum age of eighteen required for all volunteers, as well as everyone needing to undergo some training before being able to work with, and walk, the dogs. 

However, that doesn't mean that students under the minimum age can't still support HKDR, as shown by the daughter of one of our foster families.  "Ariel has helped us raise $3,412 by selling our HKDR merchandise at Elsa's high school assembly", a fantastic result.

We're always happy to support such fundraising efforts by providing merchandise and promotional materials, and it's a great way for students to get involved.  Another idea which we really appreciate is to gather donations of treats for the dogs, a luxury which we really can't afford as a regular expense.  These treat donations are shared between the Homing Centres and the dogs on Lamma, and that's a lot of mouths who really love having something other than their daily meals.   (We, or rather the dogs, do prefer the dried meat-type treats, not the biscuits which are too much like regular kibble).  If any of these ideas sound like something you'd like to take part in, please email winki@hongkongdogrescue.com for more information.