THE JOURNEY HOME

The weekend was an eventful one. We have been brought to the highs and crashed to the low.

GOOD NEWS
Remember the family of black Mummy and 3 puppies? Rat Team with Mohan of Animal Lovers League (ALL) went to visit and feed them on Saturday and while feeding, saw a construction crew moving debris. While we were there, a man approached us. He turned out to be the foreman and a Singaporean. He told us that the whole area will be sealed by the authorities in the next few days and he wanted us to remove the dogs as he was worried for them. Apparently he was the one who moved them from near the main road to this safer area in a shack. He had also bought a packet of rice for the dogs. He told us the 2 missing pups which we couldn't find were actually killed by trucks, a fact which he did not witness but told by his men, which was why he had moved them.

So now, we were left with the dilemma of what will now happen to this litter. The mummy dog was very friendly and allowed us to play with her pups. We saw how she still suckled them, even though they could already eat solid food. She was very thin but all she thought of were her pups. She kept circling around them as if she knew that there was a change in the situation.

We started making calls and one was to a potential adopter, K. who had visited Pet Villas, run by ALL, a couple of times and had indicated he was interested to adopt but he had not made any decision yet. When we told him of the precarious situation the pups were in, he drove straightaway to meet us. At the scene he witnessed how pathetic the whole situation seemed, how clever and cute the pups were, how devoted Mummy Dog was and how sad the whole story would end if nothing was done.

Papa, please take us home; we promise to behave

The story ended sweet when K said he will take two pups while we will house Mummy and pup #3 at Pet Villas for the time being. So with a jump and an acceleration of adrenaline with this forward happy plan, we rounded up the pups. Just then a truck drove up, very fast and loud and 2 loutish men came out. They saw us in the shack and said we couldn't stay as it was private property. When they saw us with the dogs, they straightaway said that they hated that mother dog and tried many times to chase her away but she was fierce and wanted to attack them. They had hit her many times but she refused to budge, in fact she bit one of their men. They told us they would be happy if we could get rid of her and said they were surprised that we could actually pet her and play with the puppies. Mummy Dog had by this time ran away when she saw them while the pups hid behind containers. We can only think how abusive these 2 men must have been to her as we could see how frightened they were and how brutish the men looked.

Love in the midst of brutality. Devotion only a mother can understand.

A silent plea, while we ponder their fate.

How can we just walk away when they needed us most.

The man drove off with the truck, making a huge racket. The other person hung around making small talk. We had to tell him that he must leave otherwise with him around the mother will not come out and we wouldn't be able to catch her. The minute he went away, we called out and Mummy Dog ran back to us. It was so strange and sudden. She knew we were the good guys and they were the bad. She sat next to her pups and then allowed us to pick them up one by one. When she saw us put them in the car, she hesitated. We showed her one of her pups and she allowed us to pick her up with no growls, no protest and put her into the car with them. Throughout the whole journey, she was well behaved but always want to be near her pups, even climbed into the small box with them. She's such a devoted Mother.

When we reached Pet Villas, our friends, L and J happened to be there visiting, as they usually do on a weekend. They heard the story and after some discussion, told us they would adopt the third pup, as they had been contemplating of adopting a dog for some time now. Hurray, this means that all three pups are now adopted and we would only be left with Mummy Dog. Since she is still suckling the pups, it has been decided that we will let the pups go slowly, one by one. It will be a sad day when we have to separate mother from babies but what choice do we have. It would be ideal if we could find someone to adopt mummy and at least one baby together so her loss is not so great, but that would be difficult here. If we are in a country with different laws and legislation, this separation would not be necessary. As is, we are just so grateful that all three of her babies have found good, secure, loving and forever homes - this is much more for any rescuer or rehomer can hope for.

Nice and clean, after a bathe.
The 3 sisters – one last time. When will we meet again sisters

Silver

Raven

Zen

Our plans for Mummy Dog which we have named Mia Cara (means My Dearest in Italian) is to retire her in Pet Villas if we can find a sponsor for her on long term. It will be more difficult for Cara to find a family who will adopt her as she is older and from history, older, black mongrel female dogs are harder to rehome, although there is always a hope that someone kind and compassionate can take her in. At the Pet Villa's sanctuary, she doesn't have to worry about her next meal or being abused. Knowing ALL staff, she will be much cherished and given as much love, freedom, space and respect as the other dogs. She still has a long road to recovery ahead of her, heartworm and all kinds of checks, vaccinations, sterilization, (and we will need to raise money for the vet fees) but for her devotion to her pups, this is her reward, her due justice which she richly deserve. Her puppies by the way, are extremely healthy, fat, chubby, cute, intelligent and playful, a credit to her devotion - she continued coming back to protect and nurse them even when chased and beaten by those louts and never left, whilst she herself is just skeletal, half starved and malnourished.

The morning which started so disastrously has turned out wonderful, thank God. The timing was so perfect. Everything fell into place, miraculously, with the grace of God. We now need to only concentrate on Cara and getting her well, happy and adjusted to a new safe, life. Nothing happens without a reason and we are sure that Cara and her pups' fate are destined to be good ones.

It is not always we can help and not all the dogs meet good endings but when that happens, we can only thank God and rejoice because little blessings in this cruel world mean lives saved for each of the dogs. Thank you K, L and J and Mohan for being there, making a united decision for this lucky litter. We are very privileged and honored to have been with you through this process of love and compassion.

BAD NEWS
On the other hand, three of our Rat pack are missing. We can only see Mama Brown who came to eat her food but did not come out to meet us. When she is alone, she is afraid. Patches and Junior have been missing since Friday. As for Blackie, we don't know. Is Blackie somewhere in the fenced area, sick or even dead. We have no way of knowing as we can't go in and she is not an ordinary dog, she is phenomenally the most terrified dog we have ever met so can she just be hiding or is she also missing.

While we may have saved 4 lives, we are not sure of the 3 that are missing. Will they turn up in the next few days? Right now we just carry on feeding Mama Brown and drive around the whole area looking for our two boys, Patches and Junior. Mama Brown looks very sad. She is now all alone in the area and very fearful. We are devastated, our rat pack is now one. Where are the others. We are thinking that it might be best if we can try catch Mama Brown we should and sterilize her, then send her to NANAs to retire. Her life seems to hang on a precipice, the next to be caught but by whom, them or us?

If in the next few days our boys and Blackie remains unsighted, it is our worse fears come true. Their journey has ended but not to home.