Two of the dogs that had to go to Acorn Vet Hospital today were there for unusual reasons, not exactly freak accidents but certainly unforeseen. One of these dogs was Bucket, a Cane Corso who came to us as an older puppy and who is still with us due to his breed, size and strength, making him unsuitable for most homes in Hong Kong. Being a large dog with tons of energy, it was very noticeable that he had become very quiet and subdued, and we thought he had injured his leg or hip somehow. However after a thorough examination, including X-rays, Dr Tony diagnosed a snake bite, thankfully not fatal but painful enough to make Bucket feel very pretty bad. He's getting better now, and looking on the bright side we at least know that all of his legs and hips are in good working order.
The second dog was my Lamma boy Irwen, already suffering from a very bad heart which has necessitated him going for regular drainage of fluid from his abdomen (ascites). I have no idea how it happened, but another dog must have accidentally bitten Irwen's eye, rupturing the eyeball. There is nothing that can be done to save the eye as it's already gone, but I have a strong painkiller and antibiotics for Irwen to at least make him as comfortable as possible while the wound heals. Of all the dogs to have this happen to him, Irwen is the least deserving as he's such a calm and sweet boy, not to mention already very slow because of his heart condition. However, what's done is done, and I know whoever caused the injury didn't mean to hurt Irwen because all of the dogs get along well.
With the weekend coming up I hope we'll be seeing more dogs leaving for their new homes, even if there's rain forecast. While little Barbie (now Oreo) left to start a new family life, we took in three new dogs from AFCD. All have sad stories (obviously, since they ended up at AFCD), but at least the two smaller ones will have adoption interviews on Saturday. Now-Milky, a very sweet mixed breed girl, will probably be waiting a lot longer for a new home, even though most of the Tai Po dogs are just as sweet and easy as their Kennedy Town counterparts.
There was another adoption that I want to give a special mention to because Jinks is a little dog who had a very sad back story. He has been in a wonderful foster home for a long time, but now he has been made an official member of the family.
"After almost two years, I need to inform you that Jinks’ foster failed. My family has decided to formally adopt Jinks, we cannot let him leave.
The image of first meeting Jinks back to May 2023 has always been lingering in my mind. His eyes were full of fear and hopelessness. Although he was badly injured, got a metal bullet under his ear and looked like handicapped, our family has never had backed down in his foster. A big credit to my helper to spend huge efforts in taking care of him. We gained his trust after almost two years, and he now enjoys being hugged by humans.
After a few physiotherapy sessions, daily training and massage at home and a set of proper wheels, we found a miracle is born, Jinks is now a three-leg dog, instead of walking on both wrists. He has been trying to be normal and working hard to walk by one of his front paws and we can see he is building confidence in front of my other two dogs.
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