Mon 27th Feb: Oh no Bea, not again!

This lovely photo was taken at Whiskers'n'Paws on Trifle's last visit as a homeless doglet

I’m going to add Trifle’s adoption to the Sunday total because she was seen and loved there, and today was simply the confirmation that she had a home and the handover.  Now there’s only Crumble remaining from the Puddling litter, although she has already been adopted once before.  In fact she was the first one to go, and the first (and only, I hope) one to come back when her family left Hong Kong only a few months later, and Crumble wasn’t included in their relocation plans.  It’s quite a different matter homing a nearly-eight months old doglet and a weeks-old puppy, and added to that the fact that Crumble is black (just like Seal, another one whose chance is pretty low despite all his publicity) it’s going to be pure luck if she gets that second chance.

This was Crumble's "surrender photo" sent by her now ex-adopter and subsequent dumper

Knowing that there were more (very cute) babies at AFCD from the large group taken from the man on Lantau, I went back today with a heavy heart.  A litter that had been placed with a foster mother had already started to die off, so I took the remaining four.  They are almost certainly related to the six from last week, all of whom have been adopted or are in foster, so I hope they stand a good chance.  They are also small sized and really pretty, the sort that are relatively easy to home and now I just have to hope they stay healthy (they seem to be fine at the moment).

There was also a really delightful black cocker spaniel cross (with a shih tzu by the looks of the underbite) who despite her age (eleven years) is full of beans and has the look of a much younger dog.  She’s also a very happy and sweet girl, so why she was surrendered to AFCD I can’t imagine.  I could ask but what’s the point, the reason will be a fabricated excuse anyway.  So Lulu, as she is now called, is at our Ap Lei Chau Centre and I suspect she will become a favourite if she stays long enough.

Bea wearing a bandage from her last mishap

After dropping Lulu and Trifle off at Ap Lei Chau, and loading the van up with newspaper and donated bedding (thank you), I went back to Lamma to settle in the four new babies.  Of course whenever I get home at the end of the day I’m greeted as though I’ve been gone for months, and there’s a lot of shoving and pushing to get to the front of the greeting queue.  I had just made it into the house and put the box of puppies on the kitchen counter when I heard a lot of noise from outside, and went into the garden to see Bea with a back leg impaled on a fence and hanging upside down.  As she was screaming and struggling to release herself, the other dogs were gathered round and – being horrible as dogs can be to another injured one – nipping at her.  I didn’t know what to do except join in the screaming, and put a barricade between Bea and the others.  I knew that trying to get her off the fence would result in getting bitten (I did actually try to lift her but she was snapping wildly and got my leg), and thankfully – when I was really in a complete panic – she managed to get herself free.  So now Bea has to go back to hospital, having only just recovered from two previous surgeries after having injured herself doing exactly the same thing, trying to jump over a fence to get into the puppy enclosure and not quite making it.  She is such a lovely dog and I am now quite desperate to get her into a home, and one that doesn’t have a garden with a fence that she can try to jump.

Wheatie is lucky to have a garden but she has to bond to her new family before being let free in it

There are actually very few fences that can contain a dog if it really wants to get out.  One of my Monkey Pups can climb out over an eight foot fence, although the other dogs wouldn’t even try.  It’s one thing that any new adopter has to be aware of when taking a dog home, and many’s the time that a dog has run away from a fenced garden that seems to be secure.  Today it was Wheatie, adopted the other day and still obviously not feeling settled in her new home.  If you adopt an adult then it’s just not safe to assume that it won’t try to run away (back to Tai Po), and until you are sure that it has bonded and knows its new home, you have to keep it on a leash (in the garden).   Thankfully Wheatie was found by volunteer Juliana, and May, but it was pure chance that they were that lucky.  They had even given up and got into a taxi to head back to Tai Po when Wheatie was spotted on a hillside, so this story has a happy ending though not all of our runaways are ever found.

I often write about our volunteers and how much I appreciate them, and I take it very personally when any of them are unfairly attacked.  It’s quite extraordinary how rude and aggressive some people can be, and there was one particularly nasty verbal attack on Maria, our Foster Coordinator, today.  Maria has been helping HKDR for years now, and I rely on her totally to handle all of the fostering side of things. It’s bad enough that she should be the target of abuse, but even worse when it came from someone other than the foster herself,  and for no reason at all.  I do wonder how these people cope with daily life when a friend fostering a shih tzu is “personally devastating”.  If anyone has a problem with any of our unpaid, hardworking and dedicated volunteers, all complaints can be sent directly to me.  I know just how to deal with them.