We have heard people say they would rather be dogs; when they see indulgent owners giving treats to their pets or sending them to spas, etc., but where are they when we see the half starved, sick or injured ones. Would you still rather be a dog? All the dog can do is depend on man and man's treatment of them. They don't protest nor do they choose. If you leave the strays where they are, they'll leave you alone too. But in this cruel and realistic world, that is not possible. Man must control. They can't let sleeping dogs lie and even when these dogs don't cross their path, they will still complain and bring harm to the dogs.
We continue our feeding at our area with Blackie and if we chance on any new strays.
The other day, one of our feeders witnessed Blackie being attacked by another dog who was out for a walk with its owner. The other dog was bigger and unleashed and dashed from the road to where poor Blackie was eating. Blackie had no chance as she didn't see it coming nor could she stand up the fight being so emaciated and weak. It happened quickly, and all the feeder could do was scream and run towards the dog to stop him from attacking Blackie. Incredibly the owner of the stranger dog just kept quiet and much later called his dog over. He didn't seem bothered that his dog had just attacked another innocent one nor did he apologise to the feeder. Perhaps in his mind, Blackie was only a stray so her existence meant nothing. How sad for Blackie. We would have put on a collar for her if we could get near enough.After the attack, Blackie didn't come for food for the next few days. Her instinct not to trust humans or other dogs proved right as everyone and everything around her have tried to harm her. Our efforts of building up her confidence took a crash. But we carried on visiting her usual spots and a few days later, one feeder saw her lying right in the middle of a road. On first sight, the feeder thought that Blackie had died and with tears, she was about to call us to come over and remove her body. But to her relief, Blackie got up slowly as the car approached. This was the first time she was fed since the attack. She no longer waits at the place she was attacked and she has become very wary of other dogs.
Two days ago, our long lost stray reappeared in our lives. We received a call from our contacts that he spotted old Horlicks. So named Horlicks because he looks like Milo except he is lighter in colour. Horlicks was sighted during the Pack's stay at the facility and he caught our eye as he had a bad wound at the back of his spine. It looked like a big burnt mark. When we saw him those months back, the wound was pretty bad and bleeding and we obtained medication to add into this food to enable his wounds to heal but after one or two feeding with medication, Horlicks disappeared and we had thought he had been captured. Where he has been hiding all this while, we do not know but he does not appear to be that thin except he looks very tired, aged and sad. The last time we saw Horlicks, we had compared how young and handsome he looked next to Milo and some of us couldn't agree who was better looking. The hard life Horlicks have gone through even in this short few months have proved harsh indeed. We almost couldn't recognise him had we not spotted his scars along his back. The wound has healed but remains furless
His wound then, fresh, raw and maggoty
Horlicks, now.
Looking aged, tired and sad
His wound has healed but remains furless
When Horlicks appeared near where Blackie was waiting, she growled and prepared herself to defend her food. But surprisingly, Horlicks did not pounce at her nor grab at her food, rather he stood and waited for his turn and his share. He was gentle and sweet during feeding. Sigh. Poor Horlicks. What can we do with him. We do not think we can relocate him as the Kennel where the rest of the Pack are staying is extremely full and we had promised that one last final spot for Blackie, if and when we do catch her.
It is so sad when decisions like that have to be made. We seem to be playing God over their lives and it is very traumatic and emotional for us. We had not set out for it to turn out this way. All we had wanted from the beginning was just to feed them so they won't be hungry. How naive it appears to be now. It seems in these short few months we have grown and become more realistic in our thinking, however our fundamentals have not changed. We will still feed them. We may not nor can we save all but we have to carry on the feeding. Go back to our fundamentals. If our strays have to perish, let it not be they starve to death. The rest we have no control of but starvation we can.
Christmas Gifts
Two of our HoneyBunch pups were adopted on Boxing Day. What a great gift it was for us. We recap the HoneyBunch pups, affectingly known as HBpups
Angel 
Angel, the first of our rescued HBpups, was the most well known as she was the advertisement for her 4 siblings. Her fosterer had her featured in video clips and her antics were screened widely in U-Tube. Because of the clip, Angel was adopted in October by a family with children living in a house with a garden. We have had news from her adopter that she is loved by all the family and very good with the children.
Angel to us will always be the most charming HB pup. Her fosterer had trained her beautifully and she was well behaved, calm yet loving and gentle. She was a highlight at the AVA expo and we are proud to say that many children who have never handled dogs before, cuddled and carried Angel. A picture comes to our mind and is imprinted in the years to come. It is one of young Jonathan, 10 years old, in a wheelchair and Angel sleeping on his lap.
Jonathan was physically challenged (we never got around to asking his parents further) and he has weak arms and legs and as far as his visit went, we didn't hear him speak. With his parents, he visited the AVA roadshow. From afar, we saw how his eyes lit up at the sight of our two pups there, Jen and Angel. He saw how the other children were carrying Angel and we are sure he craved to join them, but politely he just looked. We asked him if he would like Angel on his lap and he shyly nodded. The look of gratefulness, delight and pure love on his face is one we will never forget. He very gently stroked and petted Angel, to her credit behaved like a little angel and did not move. She was on his lap for a long time and slept contentedly. We whispered in his ear how much Angel liked him and thanked him for loving her. With a smile from ear to ear, he was so proud that he could give Angel that comfort.
Last looks – ‘Take care, Angel, I’ll miss you.”Angel and her fosterer’s dog.
This is how she looked before her adoption.
Cyrus, the photo hogger, now renamed Milo was the second to go to his new home on November 29. Aptly named Cyrus at the time of his rescue, which means a Great Leader and Conqueror, this pup is exactly that. The most outgoing of the five, his adoption was an interesting occurence as it was during a visit to the vet for the pups’ vaccination whereupon one of the vet's assistant saw how cute the 4 HBpups were and contacted her friend who she knew was looking for a pup. After a few visits, the adopter chose Milo as he appeared the most confident at that time. He is living the high life with his new doggie sibling in a house with a garden. His adopter still keep in touch with us to let us know his growth and progress is.
The only female, Latte was our biggest concern as most calls for adoption was always about the boys. Very few calls actually say they like to have a female dog, to our regret. Latte is the sweet and gentle little girl, left in the kennel with her young brother Oreo as we did not have enough fosterers to take in all the pups. She together with Oreo stayed in the cattery, with the cats, ate with them and played with them. Latte always gave in to Oreo when both of them would eat from the same bowl, Oreo would growl as he wanted to hog the meal and poor Latte would sit and watch. Yet when we take Oreo away, so that she could eat, Latte would not eat and instead whine for her brother. How and when she ever ate, we don't know but we do know how much she loved him and would always give in.
On Boxing day, a call came to us that someone was interested in the female dog. Female dog? Latte? With whoops and joy and excitement we rushed down to meet this wonderful family who requested for Latte. They chose Latte as they had observed how submissive and gentle she was and felt she would fit in with their family. They live in a private apartment and had a maltese before, who had since died of old age. We know Latte is in good hands as we see how the family gently carried her and cuddled her. Latte behaved very cute. When the kor kor put Latte back on the ground after carrying her, she looked as her legs couldn’t support her as she couldn’t stand. With laughter, we told him that she is just being spoilt as she enjoyed being carried. They took her home that very morning, around noon.... leaving behind a sad looking Oreo, who seemed to understand what was going on and refused to play or run around.
Latte, safe in kor kor’s arms
We took Oreo home as we didn't want him to be alone in the cattery since he and Latte were very close. Our thought was to foster Oreo till we could find an adopter for him. He had a nice bath and milk and spent the rest of the afternoon napping. Miracles upon miracles, a call came to us at around 4pm that someone was interested in a male pup. Again in high anticipation yet with a tinge of restraint, we went over to the Kennels with Oreo. There could be no way we would be able to rehome 2 pups in a day, right? So with hopes but at the back of our minds, a reminder not to be disappointed, we spoke with the potential adopter. To our delight, he was very interested and very serious when he saw Oreo. He had already adopted a female dog previously from the same kennels and looking this time for a male pup to keep his current dog company. Initially he had thought he would just view but seeing Oreo and how sweet and calm he was, the man said he would make the decision immediately. Oreo is now living in a house with a garden and a new canine sister.
Oreo, ready to go home, in Daddy’s arms
Both these families have invited us to visit their respective new additions and we will do that. We will give them a little time and adjustment before we visit. We have received progress updates from them that they are both doing well and we are very very happy that these two went to their new homes, although not the same homes but on the same day.
Now all we have left is Buddy. Big brother Buddy is the oldest, the strong one, very smart and highly trained. It is as if, just like all big brother, he waited for all his brothers and sisters to be adopted first before his turn came. We are looking for a home for this handsome boy. He has been fostered all this while in an apartment so we know he will do well in one. He is so trained on paper that he hardly misses the spot. Buddy is also great with children and knows commands like Sit, Paw, Down and Up. We are trying out Fetch, Drop and Roll with him but he doesn't quite like Roll so much. haha.
Yes, we are sure that with such a wonderful dog like Buddy, it will just be a matter of time before he goes to a good home. In rehoming, timing is important. The right home for the right dog. We know if something is not meant to be, things will not turn right and also if something is meant to be, everything will be ok.
For Buddy, he will just continue to live in the fosterers‘ home till he gets adopted as we do not think he should return to the Kennel, having never been there long. He will still have a home environment and much love and cuddles from the family and licks and romps from their dog.
now known as MuffinOur sweet remaining temple dog has gone home with her new family for now. Yes, known as li’l Lady, the email request from her potential adopter came when we had almost given up and contemplated on her future. Female dogs are harder to rehome and certainly black ones at that. There are 2 groups of people, there are some who really want a black dog and there are others who abhor. But the majority agree that a male is much preferred than a female which is very regretful, because to us, females are as loving, if not more, as devoted and as intelligent as their male counterparts.
Sleeping Beauties .. BFF (Best Friends Forever)Lady, as she was known then,
with her fosterer’s dog before she left for her new home
It has been two weeks and things seem to be settling all right for now. Apparently Lady, now renamed Muffin is playful and Teddy sometimes respond and then again he doesn’t. Muffin does get along well with the people in the home and it is only this concern over Teddy that will be the deciding factor and her future remains pending. We all hope that Teddy, in time to come, will grow to love her, just as she loves him like she loves Lucky (Shep) her natural brother. We wish so much for Muffin to have a home she will enjoy and be loved. That is our hope for her.
Name: Buddy
Age: 4 months old
Gender: Male
Size : Medium
Breed: Cross
Health : Excellent, Full vaccinations completed
Temperament: Well-behaved, intelligent, paper-trained,
Understand commands “sit” “paw” “down” “up”
Good with children and other dogs. A perfect family dog.
Unfortunately, the current licensing ruling restricts ownership of Mid-sized dogs in public housing, and as much as we would love for Buddy to go homes who will love him, regardless of the type, regretfully, he is not on the HDB approved list
Buddy, well behaved, loving and wonderful companion
If there is anyone out there looking for a wonderful companion, trained, intelligent and very very handsome pup, let us know. We wish for Buddy to go to a committed loving home just like his siblings, he deserves it. Let 2009 be a good year for Buddy.
Buddy, patiently waits for his new owners to take him homeTo visit Buddy, please email us at anaterry@singnet.com.sg or call 9838-3820.
He’s been so good and patient, let him wait no more.
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