It's so hard, actually impossible, to plan ahead and budget when you can't control your "inventory", or know when unexpected "stock" is going to arrive, not to mention the condition it will be in. It's easy for outsiders to say just stop taking in any more dogs, but if we could do that then none of us would be working in this business, we'd be sitting in offices and dealing with things that didn't feel or think or suffer. What do you do when photos of helpless dogs and puppies arrive along with pleas to accept them, and then you say yes and the dogs arrive needing surgery or other treatment? Out of the latest intake of small dogs several need expensive patella surgery, with a newly surrendered pom requiring both hip and knee repair.
Other than these young, small dogs, we have so many seniors now, especially at our Tai Po Homing Centre, and while their health issues are usually less urgent, it still means repeat visits to the vet for age-related problems. We don't just dispose of the inconvenient ones, we take care of them and try to make their final years as comfortable as possible, never giving up on the hope that they will be chosen for adoption, as some indeed are.
Unfortunately, while our costs continue to rise our income dwindles, with fewer adoptions and donations, and overworked staff being asked to try to save money wherever possible. I don't know how this all ends, how long HKDR and all of the other animal rescue groups can keep going, while pet shops and breeders (and smugglers) are still selling their faulty puppies to ignorant buyers. The pom was one of those, bought in Hong Kong with both hips completely underdeveloped and the knees too.
The HKSAR Government seems to be able to provide enough staff to patrol restaurants and the streets looking for people to fine, but what about the big stuff, the important and critical situation of rampant unlicensed breeding of unsuitable dogs, of online puppy selling to totally unsuitable homes, of unchecked border crossings of dogs bred in China and shipped across to order. Why does it fall to the NGOs and independent volunteers to deal with the fallout?
Now that I've got that off my chest (for the moment), I need to go back to our current situation regarding lack of money and bills to pay that we can't afford. It's wrong that members of the public should have to support us, but as it stands we have no other source of income. So please, if you can, make a donation at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/donate/ so we can continue our work.
We also welcome donations in kind, meaning dog food (preferable canned), treats, medicines your dog no longer needs (obviously not expired), even newspaper that we use for the toilet areas.
I would like to thank our dog food sponsor, Buddy Bites, for their generous donations, as well as Steak King for fresh meat donations. The dogs love that!
I should also update on some cases, especially the two brothers, Merlin and Ted, who are settling in at Tai Po. We also have no potential adopters for the poor young Malamute girl still waiting at AFCD after her would-be adopter pulled out at the very last minute. Please try to help if you can. She may be a giant size but she's sweet and playful, and she needs a home.
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