Puppies Minus One
The litter of five ebony pups which are Labrador Cross are sadly reduced by one. One day there were five and the next there are four.
The one with the white tip tail is missing. We do not know what happened. All we do know is that the pups have grown and are braver. They no longer wish to hide in the forest where their mother had so carefully hidden them. Now they venture out, they follow mommy when she goes wandering, and if you have been following Blackie’s story from Day one, you would know how much she moves around. Not one for sitting around and waiting, Blackie would roam the streets, either in search of food or just wandering.
Unknown to the innocent puppies, they have made themselves visible and this becomes dangerous in a location where we have previously lost our strays. Many strays.
The other day, we saw the puppies follow mom out, across big drains, up hills and across treacherous roads. No. The cars and trucks did not stop for them and the puppies did not know what to do. With our hearts in our mouth, we saw how two of the pups were left on one side of the road while the other two had crossed safely as they were quicker. The remaining two yelped and later ran back to their nest as Blackie did not wait. The big drains become death traps when there is heavy rain with overflowing sewage and the hills are sand dunes. During peak hours, traffic becomes busy with heavy vehicles.
How sad it is when we have a situation like Blackie’s.
She does not know how to look after her pups other than nurse them. She was once like them, left with her sister in a drain at a young age, as her mother was caught and put down shortly after their birth. All she knows is not to stay in a spot for long as that is dangerous and so Blackie wanders. Can we blame her for actions. All we can say it is déjà vu. We are seeing history repeating itself. What we can do is to try catch her and sterilise her but Blackie is not the typical stray we feed. She has been the hardest to go near much less catch. She was Project Number 1 and after all these months with the successful rescue of the rest of the Rat Pack and successful rehoming of many pups, Blackie still remains our Project number 1, file unfinised, unclosed and still pending.
She does not know how to look after her pups other than nurse them. She was once like them, left with her sister in a drain at a young age, as her mother was caught and put down shortly after their birth. All she knows is not to stay in a spot for long as that is dangerous and so Blackie wanders. Can we blame her for actions. All we can say it is déjà vu. We are seeing history repeating itself. What we can do is to try catch her and sterilise her but Blackie is not the typical stray we feed. She has been the hardest to go near much less catch. She was Project Number 1 and after all these months with the successful rescue of the rest of the Rat Pack and successful rehoming of many pups, Blackie still remains our Project number 1, file unfinised, unclosed and still pending. The only success we have with her so far is the many meters she used to stand away from us while we prepare her food has slightly reduced by a few steps. After so many months of faithful feeding, she still has not responded to us, no wag nor recognition. It is an ambivalent, distanced attitude she has maintained with everyone around her. We do see her lick her pups once in a while and this is probably as far as she would go. She used to do that with Junior in the past so we knew how much she cared for Junior. So with a dog like that, how do we catch her?
Her pups, well, some of them are like her in that they keep a distance with a cautious attitude but all of them are loving and sweet with their little waggy tails and whimpers of joy each time we visit to feed them. Two of them are exuberant in their welcomes, running towards us, jumping and bouncing and giving us their paws in excitement. These are the two we are most afraid for. If they approached us like this, would they not do the same for unwelcomed visitors? The other two are more cautious but after a while they are the same as their sisters, wanting cuddles and strokes. And Blackie sits at a distance observing. She appears not to mind us playing with her pups but we wonder if she does this because she recognises us or would she come to the pups’ defence if unwelcomed visitors came and try harm them. Or would she run away in fear. We dare not think beyond although these questions do haunt us.
If Blackie did come to her pups’ defence, then her own life is in danger should the inevitable happen. If she ran, all her puppies will be at the mercy of the cruel ones. However side we look at, the results are no good. If we cannot find any people to adopt them onsite, we know we cannot proceed far.
As we have stated in our earlier entries, black female dogs are the hardest to rehome. So far the numerous calls who can provide them a home have requested for males. As irony would have it, poor Blackie’s cute black pups are all females. Can it be that the one with the white tip was a male? We don’t know but it is too late, there is no point in looking back. We can’t put these pups in foster homes as we know that once they grow older, and bigger and if still unadopted, the foster homes will eventually hand them back to us and what can we do then. It will be more cruel to let them go or put them down at that time when they have already been in a home and received love.
One practical alternative is to hand them to the SPCA, but who will make this call? We have contacted SPCA to ask them the current situation but it is bad. They have told us that these pups will not have longer than 24 hours with them as their kennels are running full with so many people surrendering their pets, especially before a festival like the Chinese New Year. Our requests with a few kennels have also not boded well as they are all very full and pups are hard to take care of as their mortality rate is high. This is especially also since we all know how hard it is to get adoptions for these black female pups.
So while the pups play happily with each other and snooze blissfully under the warm sun, the few of us involved are torn over their innocent lives. Should we be the bad guys to hand them to be put down before they get caught by the evil people. Once that call is made, there is no turning back. Or do we just leave them where they are and pray that they will be left alone till we can find adopters. We know if given time, we can generate interest but the question remains, how much time are we given before they disappear. Food for them is not a problem as we will go there every day to feed them but in that location, eyes are ever watchful and the whole place is akin to a jungle with predators and these pups are easy prey and easy taking. The methods these unscrupulous people use are barbaric and cruel, too horrific to narrate in this blog but enough for us to shudder at the thought. Sigh.
However you look at it, whichever side you are on, this is a lose-lose situation. Either of these decisions will eventually come back to haunt us, we know. We also know we will regret whatever we make, unless a miracle happen. Miracles have happened before in the past and we pray for another.
Please help us pass the word around that these four pups need a home. They desperately need a home where they don’t have to run like their mother and live their whole lives in fear - if they are fortunate to live long enough and can avoid being caught and life ended before it even started. We have kindly been promised help that should the time come to steriise them, aid will come and we are grateful for the offer however, it remains to be seen if these pups ever see the day they need sterilisation.
Help them. Not help us but it is them you are helping. We view this situation top priority that we are holding all stories and other adoptions aside, even when dogs like poor Horlicks also need to be adopted desperately. That is how high risk they are in now.
Adoption or Fostering –
Litter of FOUR EBONY PUPS
In the Disney movies, the birthing of new lives often bring much rejoicing and glorified in a wonderful array of colour. But in this dark and realistic world, in a lonely forsaken place where the Ebony Pups are discovered, is this the beginning to an end? Were they born to die? If they could choose, they would have chosen never to be born as that would mean running in fear their whole lives from people trying to catch them for food, for culling or for the mere pleasure of killing or maiming them. Born in the wrong place at the wrong time. How sad can that get.
Can we make a difference to their lives. We know it is not easy but we will try. We have to try. Surely they were born for a reason. Can you help us give them the reason that they were meant to bring joy to others - with their wags, their whimpers, their sighs, their grunts, their adoration and their love. That they were meant for better things and not hunted down or ensnared in a wire noose or in a black airless plastic bag.
A litter of FOUR beautiful glossy shiny fur of jet black Lab Cross puppies. Two are full black with no markings, two with beautiful white socks but all four look alike - beautiful jet black. They are healthy as we know the mother is still nursing them and we try to pump the thin mother with lots of food so she can produce enough milk for these pups. She would die for them, we know, for we know how much she loves them and because of them, her own life is very much in danger as she won't leave - making her a sitting target out in the open. But we would rather she lives and along with her, her beautiful puppies.
A litter of FOUR beautiful glossy shiny fur of jet black Lab Cross puppies. Two are full black with no markings, two with beautiful white socks but all four look alike - beautiful jet black. They are healthy as we know the mother is still nursing them and we try to pump the thin mother with lots of food so she can produce enough milk for these pups. She would die for them, we know, for we know how much she loves them and because of them, her own life is very much in danger as she won't leave - making her a sitting target out in the open. But we would rather she lives and along with her, her beautiful puppies.
This video was taken first January 2009,
beloved Blackie's precious babies,
Our beautiful Ebony pups
Individual pups based on our observation :
Friendie – Full black. Friendly and active. The first one to greet visitors.
Friendie – Full black. Friendly and active. The first one to greet visitors.
Whitie - Has 2 white back paws and patch of white of her chest. Closest to Friendie, the second on the scene. As friendly and active.
(Friendie and Whitie are always together)
Little Sis – Full black. The smallest and quietest. The homebody.
(Friendie and Whitie are always together)
Little Sis – Full black. The smallest and quietest. The homebody.
Indy - Has a back left white paw, and slight tinge of white on the back right paw and front left paw. This is the independent sister. She has her own mind and her actions are not dictated by her sisters nor the pack. She investigates bravely on her own.
Can you help them beat the odds -
Prove the world wrong
Black is Beautful, Black is Elegant,
Black is Cool,
Black can be LOVE
and
Black is Ebony
The Ebony Pups
To help save them, we need adopters and fosterers - 9838 3820 or anaterry@singnet.com.sg
Unfortunately, the current licensing ruling restricts ownership of mid-sized dogs in public housing, and as much as we would love for these pups to go to homes who will love them, regardless of the type, regretfully, we need to inform that mid size dogs are not on the HDB approved list . This does not apply to fostering.
For the EBONY PUPS
Please email us at anaterry@singnet.com.sg
or call 9838-3820.
4 comments:
Try calling this guy, he might be able to trap the mother dog 94897626. He is a little hard to reach but he is the best i know.
Thank you Doggie. We will keep this in mind. We can't catch her yet as she is still nursing. But when the time comes, we have to explore all avenues and this helps.
Hi, what are your plans for the mom after the kids are all adopted?
Hello Princess. Thank you for asking. We will do what we had tried before she got pregnant. Try to catch her and sterilise her. We still have not thoroughly discussed where she will got after that as Blackie is deathly afraid of people and other dogs and is so used to roaming and running wild. But we will definitely sterilise her if we can catch her.
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