Thur 1st March: Seal’s a confirmed media star

This first group of Lantau pups have all gone to homes or fosters

With so many unwanted puppies being born – and growing into adults – every year you’d think that they were virtually indestructable.  They live in all sorts of horrible conditions, often without shelter and with mothers who get by (barely) on what little food they can scavenge, yet they survive.  Not all of them of course, but more than enough.   It’s probably the fact that they are isolated from others that results in so many getting through the critical baby period, and  that they are with their mothers and getting that vital milk.  The baby pups that end up at AFCD are often far too young to be without their mother (just like the pet shop puppies) and being brought into an environment where there are all sorts of other dogs, and inevitably diseases, means that the odds of surviving are drastically diminished.

The large group of puppies from various mothers that  came into the Pokfulam AFCD Kennels from the “home” on Lantau are a good example.  The man who keeps these dogs seems to have no trouble with puppies dying judging by the rate at which they multiply, but even before I was able to take the second litter out (after having got the previous six into homes or fosters), a few had already succumbed.  It was a gamble taking the remaining four because I knew that there was a high risk of them being infected, but at the time they seemed healthy enough, and being small-sized and super-cute I knew they would stand a good chance of finding homes.  Maybe it was the fact that they are small (the adults all seem to be medium sized) that made them so vulnerable, but this morning on checking the puppies there was one that looked decidedly unwell.   Acorn was my first stop when I left Lamma, but immediately  after having been put on a drip, the puppy took her last breath and passed away.  I asked for a parvovirus test to be done (on the now-dead puppy) and it was negative, but obviously there is something that is deadly to these babies.  Now I am on high alert, checking the other three all the time and watching for any sign of lethargy or loss of appetite.  Murphy’s Law (not my Murphy) dictates that the cutest die first of course, and while looks have nothing to do with a dog’s right to live or to find a home, the fact is that it’s a lot easier for some than others.

I say my bit after Superstar Seal has finished his own interview

Seal had his third media interview (with Apple Daily) today, and he’s become an expert by now!  He knows just how to handle the press and how to charm, putting on his best smiley face and allowing the acupuncture needles to be stuck in without complaint, even though he knows he doesn’t need them any more.  He’s such a happy boy, and of course he feels quite relaxed at Acorn having stayed there for some time.  The only thing that’s still missing is that elusive home, so now we’ll have to wait to see if this time his story will work.

Seal can't even remember being paralysed now that he's better