20.9.11

Food For Hope (On-Going Project)

Hunger knows no boundaries. Hunger exists, even in a rich affluent country like Singapore.


As you read this, many dogs (and some cats) are waiting for night to fall, waiting and listening for the sound of our car in the distance, telling them this is the night they will be fed. For the many streets dogs, they may never know the luxury of a simple drink of water, or small plate of food. They will struggle through the day and wait for darkness to bring the sound of our car's rumbling engine.


A lonesome, stray puppy.
Feeding in teams, we usually hit the industrial streets after nightfall as the strays don’t usually come out that early. Night is when it is cool, safer with lesser humans and traffic. By feeding these street dogs, we hope to lessen their hardship of street life. Once they've had their fill, these dogs often return to their hiding places; at least for the next day or two, they will not need to wander the streets in search of food. Perhaps some of them will not be hit by cars; others will not become targets of human cruelty.


Packed food is not always available!

A female dog searching for food, with evidence of the many litters of puppies she must have had on the streets having not yet been sterilized.

A factory dog waiting patiently for his food to be prepared. Not all are this fortunate to have workers that care for and feed them.

A very old stray whose legs were too weak to carry him.

Stale food that we could smell as we entered the factory compounds.
There is always much heartbreak in the types of scenes and situations we witness. The unbearable heat poses a hardship beyond our understanding on stray dogs trying to survive. Can any of us imagine going for weeks without clean water to drink? Of course, street dogs never actually drink clean water, but at least regular rainfall flushes out some of the filth from the puddles they go to for relief. With no rainfall, a stray must drink whatever they find, and I can tell you from my experience of seeing it, what they drink is sad; but they drink it anyway, because they must.


Drinking muddy water to survive

Drinking whatever water they can find
Feeding the strays is a commitment because they have come to expect the food you bring for them on a regular basis and each night of feeding takes us a few hours to complete. However, if you feel that feeding them is hard work, how much harder it must be for them trying to live there and survive?

Giving a starved stray a meal

Puppies caged up. We provide food to the workers, feed the puppies and deworm them. They will be sterilized in a month's time.

Signs of how hard her life must be

Life is hard enough for them. Help us provide them with regular meals.

Preparing their meals during a feeding round
One factor of our work that will never change; as long as there is a presence of stray dogs who need our help, we will continue to do what we do. One might question why we continue to travel industrial estates, night after night (at no small risk to ourselves) and shoulder ever rising expenses such as medical bills, food to feed the strays, petrol costs, etc? How do we weigh or measure the work we do? Together with volunteers, I have rescued puppies trapped under metal beams, a dog with an ear wound so huge that she eventually lost her ear and a puppy with huge tyre marks across his back, just to name a few. Had we not been there to take these dogs from the streets, to the vet, they would have been left to endure that pain and suffering and eventually die a slow death.


The stray who lost her ear and hearing

I see their faces and I cannot forget. And so I will return again and again because I have looked into the eyes of those who need us and, no matter what it takes, we cannot refuse them our help.

Puppy crushed by metal beams; she had to be put down.

So, in answering the question as to why we continue to pound the streets feeding these stray dogs - I recall their faces, the look in their eyes, the sound of their little paws running to greet us when our cars pull up, and my answer is to ask a second question: How could we stop?


If you are wondering whether or not to contribute, try to imagine the many faces of the street dogs, all starved and in that moment you will see in your mind what we see during the course of a single night on the streets.

Enjoying the food you buy for them

"I don't need a bowl for this!"
Remember as you prepare to retire for the evening, that our volunteers are busy cooking and preparing to go out and hit the streets in industrial estates, after a hard day’s work.


Let’s all give these street dogs HOPE for a better future.


To buy canned food for them, these are some of your options:


1. Pets HQ - Blk 221, Boon Lay Place, #02-112, Boon Lay Shopping Centre, S(640221) 
Tel: 6265 8510 (Peggy) (You may call Peggy to place your orders, then send them a cheque.)


2. PolyPet - Blk 109, Clementi Street 11 (off Sunset Way), #01-29, S(120109)
Tel: 6779 5309 (Marcus) (A direct fund transfer is possible.)


Nature's Gift Canned Food (700g) - available in beef, chicken and lamb.
$30 per carton of 12 cans or $2.50 per can 

For purchase of dry food (kibbles), we have a very special deal with a pet food supplier.




For more information on how you can help us help the animals, please email Fiona at pops_snaps@singnet.com.sg


Thank you for giving them HOPE.

Photo Credits : Jamie Chan
Poster Credits : Chua Xinyi and Yip Jie Ying