Thurs 5th April: Opal is adopted – and lost

My blog yesterday got some angry responses from whippet breeders round the world and their comments can be seen under the post itself.   I am fully aware that there are some breeders (though not in Hong Kong) who care for their dogs, but while there are millions of lovely dogs being killed every year simply because they are homeless, and dog shows parading inbred and overbred freaks who in no way resemble the original breed specimens, then I will still feel the way I do about commercial breeders.  Those who have criticised that one particular breeder in Hong Kong should have a look at all of the others, and the pet shops, and they will see that Kent Ng is doing what everyone else in the trade does.  The sad thing is that many of his whippets (I’m pretty sure he is the only breeder in Hong Kong) have themselves been abandoned and ended up at HKDR or other rescue organisations, even while still puppies.  I love whippets like I love every other dog, but breeding more of a species while there is a serious over-population problem worldwide is just wrong in my eyes.  A dog is a dog, and there are too many homeless ones.

Bowie and his heartworms were adopted today!

An example of this is Bowie, a sweet Samoyed who came to us via AFCD and was adopted today.  Like many of the dogs who live in the New Territories he has heartworm, so a special thanks to his adopters who are happy to have it treated.

Opal is the one on the left with the all-black face

I took my German pointer-cross puppies to Acorn yesterday to meet a potential adopter, and while Griffin was the one I initially thought would be taken, his non-stop energy made Opal a better choice.  I have several nicknames for Griffin, like Torpedo, Bullet and others similar (I’m saving them for the next inevitable litter), because he is so fast and just never stops.  He is exactly like others of his “breed”, in looks and temperament, and I love him to bits.  As it turned out I don’t know if Opal was lucky to have been the one adopted or not, because not long after being carried out of the clinic I got a call to say she had run away.  As a puppy who has lived all of her life (that she can remember) with me on Lamma, she will have no idea of where she is or where she should run to.  She doesn’t know about traffic or roads or anything like that, and she must be terrified.  It’s been raining all night and I just hope she’s found shelter somewhere.  I’ll be going over in the morning to help the search and maybe if she’s still in the area and hears my voice she’ll come to me.  She was lost in Kennedy Town (Smithfield Road), and although she is a friendly puppy her survival instinct will have made her hide from people.  Please, if you are anywhere remotely in that area, keep an eye open for her.  She has a microchip and license so I hope maybe someone will pick her up and she can be safely returned.  Ironically I even told the adopters that many dogs run away at first and reminded them to be very careful, but I think it’s hard to grasp just how scary it is for a puppy to be suddenly taken away from the only home and person they have ever known.

This is Opal too

Opal a month ago at Whiskers'n'Paws

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