Mon 7th Nov: Lucky – unlucky – lucky for good

Strawberry cries as her infected paw is cleaned

You all know about Strawberry, the tiny baby who fought back from the brink of death but lost her toes to infection.  You could say she was unlucky to have been taken away from her mother at an age when she needed the milk and maternal care, but lucky that I agreed to take her and her two siblings from the AFCD kennels when I really didn’t want the extra burden of looking after such young puppies. She was again unlucky to have developed such a severe nail bed infection, as well as general sickness doe to the fact that she was so much smaller – and weaker – than her brother and sister.  Her luck changed once more when she was offered a great foster home, which not only gave her devoted care and a built-in pug “brother” but also relieved me of a lot of work and worry.  Today there was another chapter to Strawberry’s story when her foster confirmed that she would be staying, and would be officially adopted.  Could it get any better than that?

We also had confirmation that Anna, another super-sweet doglet, would be adopted by her foster carer, and maybe there are others in the pipeline (but it would be bad luck to say any more).  These behind-the-scenes adoptions tend to get overlooked when we think about dogs that have found new homes, but they all add up.  We also try to find home-to-home placements for dogs that are being surrendered, as by doing so the dog doesn’t have to go through the trauma of coming to either of our Homing Centres, and we don’t have to try and find spaces for them.  The work is constant, and whatever else is going on (like Peak to Fong) the purpose of HKDR is never forgotten.

This was taken in the finder's home, but he can't stay there

One of the dogs that will have to come to Ap Lei Chau is a “corgi” (another one who is almost-but-not-quite) who was found abandoned on the street, and when AFCD checked the mcirochip details and contacted the resistered owner, s/he didn’t want the dog back.  Rather than have the poor dog sent to AFCD, I have agreed to take him in but what we really need is a new home.

I also try not to forget the doglets that I have on Lamma, as even though they may think of this as their home (which they do, of course), the idea is that they will find new homes of their own.  Whether it’s a “beach adoption”, or some other privately arranged introduction, all of the youngsters are available.

It occurred to me that it’s not just Peak to Fong that’s creeping up on us, but Christmas too!  That means we have to start organising the HKDR party, the one time of the year when it’s about the volunteers instead of the dogs.  Of course we need volunteers to organise the event itself, so can I see a show of (virtual) hands?