HOPE 2014 Calendar - On Sale Now!

HOPE 2014 calendars are now available at the locations listed below.

At just S$10 per calendar, you can bring HOPE to many rescued and rehabilitating dogs. There is free delivery for orders of 11 calendars or more, so hurry and order your calendars by filling out the form here.

Baby Harper is our cover girl!

FEATURED DOGS

The making of the calendar is always a bittersweet journey, as we look back and give thanks to the lives that were saved, as well as reminisce and pay tribute to the lives we've touched but were subsequently lost.

This year, our cover girl is none other than Baby Harper, the tiny soul with so much resilience to live on fearlessly and enjoy life as it is, despite her disabilities.

We also give thanks to Ah Girl, the brave girl who spent more than 12 years of her life sleeping on cold concrete floors in a factory, but lived out her final days in the comforts of a foster home.

There is Nora, a beautiful poodle that we rescued from a puppy mill, together with her friends Joey, Rob, and Sarah.

Not forgetting our exotic beauty Lulu, and fun-loving Athena (previously named Fat Sister Brown) who have both found forever homes respectively after six years of living on the streets.

Lulu being photographed by Nick from Furry Photos

And Jaspar the malnourished and injured street dog with a maggot-infested wound so gory the vet thought he may not survive the night.

Jaspar's horrible wound

Jaspar today, with owner, Alice

Of course, we can't leave out our darling old man, Matthieu, who is temporarily with a foster home but awaits his own forever home.

Matthieu on the day of his rescue

Matthew at his foster home. Will someone adopt him?

This year’s calendar will also feature the popular Cotton girl who was abandoned due to her medical condition (Cotton suffers from seizures, which are now under control), our very special Happy who is always bursting with happiness and energy, sweet-natured Lucky whom we've rescued from a troubled past, Talia who was left in the open to brave the sun and the storms in a cage, Cookie the abandoned beagle-local cross and possibly a former breeding dog, and Momo and Sparky who have finally found their forever homes!

Cotton when she was found. She was abandoned.

Cotton is waiting for someone to adopt her!

CALENDAR DESIGN AND FEATURES
In addition to the endless stream of cute doggy photos which will keep your eyes glued to the pages, we also want to stress that our calendar is specially designed to help the busy dog lovers keep track of their “dog appointments”. The calendar grids are bigger than normal calendars so you can easily paste stickers to remind yourself when you've last administered “Revolution” or “Frontline” and when your doggies are due for the next dose. You can also scribble some quick notes in each square to keep yourself organized – all in one place!

We've also added some fun notes to remind you and your family to walk your dogs, give them a hug, and to take them for their regular vaccination and yearly checkups.

All in all, the calendar is specially made for YOU and with your doggy in mind.

WHY PURCHASE HOPE'S CALENDAR?
Purchasing our calendar will allow us to continue our journey in saving our furry friends, rebuild their trust in humans and try to protect more animals against unnecessary suffering. Buy our calendars as a meaningful Christmas gift for friends and family, or buy our calendars simply because you love dogs. The next time you see us blogging about yet another rescued dog, you'll know we couldn't have done it without you!

For just S$10/- per calendar, you can buy a whole lot of kindness! Here's where the money goes:

• Help with our vet bills for our rescued dogs. Vet bills inadvertently go up for dogs that require long-term medical care such as old dogs and dogs with skin issues, heartworm and tick fever. Not a day goes by without us worrying about bills.
• Boarding kennel housing for rescued dogs that we are unable to find foster homes for. As we do not have our own shelter, we pay a commercial rate to rent space at these kennels.
• Provide food for the street and factory dogs which often live in filthy conditions and get so desperate they would even eat rubbish and gravel.
• Provide food to low income and senior citizens for their dogs.
• Help with vet bills for low income dog-owners who love their dogs but cannot afford to take their dogs to the vet.
• Support our spaying program, our more humane way of curbing the stray population and our fight against culling strays.

HOW TO BUY

The order form can be downloaded here. For orders of 11 calendars and above, you get to enjoy free delivery! Place your orders now and buy some calendars for friends and families at just S$10 each. For merchants or individuals who wish to sell our HOPE 2014 calendar in your shops or personally, please drop us a note at hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg 

For mail order, please download and print the order form. Then mail the form along with your cheque (payable to "Hope Dog Rescue") to:
Whiteclip / HOPE Dog Rescue
28 Maxwell Road
Red Dot Traffic Building
#03-11
Singapore 069120

For email order, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg with the completed form and make a fund transfer.

You can also purchase our calendars from one of the following participating merchants:

North

Dog Haven Grooming Salon
5 Jasmine Road, Singapore 576580          

Tel: 61009663

Doggiestyle Café
23 Serangoon Central, NEX #04R-72, Singapore 556083
Tel: 66485485

Mount Pleasant Animal Medical Centre - Gelenggang
2 JalanGelenggang Singapore 578187     
Tel: 62517666

The Animal Doctors

Block 108 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 #01-94/96 Singapore 560108
Tel: 64514531

South/Central

Big O Café & Restaurant              
290, Orchard Road, #B1-08, Paragon Singapore 238859  
Tel: 68361495

Celevenus Wellness & Aesthetic Clinic

391B Orchard Road #16-03/04 Ngee Ann City Tower B Singapore 238874

Tel: 64109621

Mad About Grooming
221 Balestier Road Singapore 329928      
Tel: 90691148

Mount Pleasant Animal Medical Centre – Whitley
232 Whitley Road Singapore 297824
Tel: 62508333

Nibbles ‘N’ Paws
6 Everton Park #01-02 Singapore 080006               
Tel: 62727271

Paradise Pet Shop
232 Whitley Road (Mount Pleasant Veterinary Centre), Singapore 297824            
Tel: 66599181

Town Vets Animal Clinic
Block 22 Havelock Road, #01-687, Singapore 160022        
Tel: 62767026

East

Canine Wellness & Rehab Centre

224, TelokKurau Road, Uni Building #01-05 Singapore 423836
Tel: 6440 0487

Groomer of Pawz
Blk 88, Bedok north Street 4, #01-153 Singapore 460088
Tel: 8333 9008

Michiko Pet Groomers

500 Guillemard Road #01-01 Esta Ruby (behind City Plaza) Singapore 399839
Tel: 9099 3633

Mount Pleasant Animal Medical Centre – Bedok

Blk 158 #01-577, Bedok South Ave 3, Singapore 460158
Tel: 64443561

Mount Pleasant Animal Medical Centre –Changi
969A Upper Changi Road North Singapore 507667
Tel: 65460166

Toby’s The Dessert Asylum

80 Marine Parade Road, #02-68 Parkway Parade Road Singapore 449269

Tel: 63462435

West

Barks & Bubbles Pet Grooming Studio  
37 JalanRumahTinggi Singapore 150037 
Tel: 64743115
* Calendars are sold at only $5 each, with the owners generously sponsoring the difference.  Limited to 100 copies only!

Cakewalk
Blk 63B LengkokBahru #01-362, Singapore 152063
Tel :64721107

Colbar  
9A Whitchurch Road, Singapore 138839
Tel: 67794859

Drips Bakery Cafe           
82 TiongPoh Road, #01-05, Singapore 160082     
Tel: 6222 0400

Drips Baker’s Playground
Blk 109 ClementiStreet #01-05 Singapore 120109
Tel: 6776 0400

House for Pets
5 Stagmont Ring, Singapore 688241         
Tel: 63671753

Island Vet

Blk 114, Jurong East St 13 #01-404, 600114
Tel: 6560 5991

JuzPurrfect
9 One-North Gateway #01-46, One North Residence, Singapore 138643
Tel: 84140486

Mount Pleasant Animal Medical Centre - Redhil

lBlk 113 #01-520, Bukit Merah View, Singapore 150113
Tel: 62711132

Mount Pleasant - Sunset

Blk 105 #01 - 18/20 Clementi Street 12 Singapore 120105

Tel: 67768858

Owls Brew
146 Mackenzie Road, Singapore 228723
Tel: 83380193

Pet HQ 
221 Boonlay Place, #02-112 Boonlay Shopping Centre, Singapore 640221               
Tel: 64639177

Pet Tails

27A LorongKilat, Singapore 598128

Tel: 68932988 / 85718262

Polypets
109 Clementi St 11 #01-27/29, Singapore 120109
Tel: 67795309

The Pet Doctor
3 Pandan Valley, Pandan Valley Condominium, 1-311 ChempakaBlk, Singapore 597627   
Tel: 64387779

West Coast Vetcare Pte Ltd
612 Clementi West Street 1 #01-300 Singapore 120612
Tel: 6777 7423

Yappily Pets

Blk 217 Bukit Batok Street 21, #01-363
Tel: 96863205

---

So what are you waiting for? Order your calendar today!

HOPE would like to thank the following people for their help and partnership in the production of 2014's calendar:

Big O Group 
Honeypot
Nicholas Lee of Furry Photos
Lisa Goh of WhiteClip for her well thought-out design for our calendar. If you like our calendar design and wish to contact Lisa, lisa@whiteclip.com 

An Angel Appeared...

I first noticed her at a bus stop about 2 years ago when I started volunteering with HOPE Dog Rescue. Together with her siblings, all five of them would rest along the bus stop, away from the sun and the rain. Unexplainably, of all the strays we’ve fed, this family has taken a special place in my heart. I was captivated by their built – they were much taller than regular strays and they had these cute dark eye rings which reminds me of pandas! Their eyes were brown and expressive, revealing the tough life and deep sadness they had. These were the eyes of street dogs.

Five months ago, we noticed that three members of the family of five had disappeared. We asked around despite knowing that no one would have cared if they lived or died. As expected, nobody had an answer to their disappearance. I knew there were only two possibilities: they were either killed in an accident or caught and culled. Either way, they lived and died in vain. There was nothing we could do but to continue feeding and keeping a look out for the last two members of the family.

This photograph was taken in December last year, where she (on left) and her sibling waited for the food

Three weeks back, I noticed that she was alone. I knew at once that her only friend in the world had also disappeared…  Now, more than ever, I looked forward to my Saturdays, just to ensure that she was still at the bus stop waiting for me, and that she was safe. It was my way of telling her that I cared for her even if no one else did.

She was different from other street dogs. Instead of running enthusiastically towards us for food, she approached us with such heavy footsteps as though her legs were tied to heavy chains. Rather than wolfing down the food like other street dogs, she ate slowly and often melancholy.

We saw her lying on soil during our feeding rounds

Last Saturday, I saw her lying on a grass patch next to the bus stop. In the dark of the night, she seemed motionless. My heart skipped a beat and I thought to myself, “Could she be dead?”

I approached her cautiously, called out to her gently, but she didn’t move or acknowledge my presence. She lied in the shallow hole that she had dug. It seemed like she had given up on life - she had nothing to live for anymore and she was lying there, awaiting death. I squatted at a distance and placed some canned food on the soil for her but she didn’t even get up to eat. She was no longer interested in food.

I remember Fiona mentioning to me that when you rescue a badly injured stray, you seldom need to make a decision on whether to put them down or save them. The dog would make its own decision. If she didn’t want to live, she would not eat. I felt a wave of sadness as that thought crossed my mind. Has she given up on life?

Lisa took 20 minutes to approach her

I inched closer to her, talked to her, and asked how she was, if she was hurt, and why she wasn’t eating. I didn’t want to make any sudden movements for fear of scaring her off. I had never been this close to her. As I got closer to her, I noticed that the soil beneath her was infested with creepy crawlies wriggling in the soil. Worms, insects, I don’t know what else but it was a sorry sight. When I was close enough to pat her, I noticed she had a wound on her back. It didn’t look deep but from our experience, open wounds on dogs, if left untreated, would be infested with maggots within a few days.

Listening to Lisa talk to her

We immediately applied Negasunt powder onto her wound. She suddenly stood up and tried to run but I grabbed her chest firmly and held her close to me, assuring her I meant well and it was safe to remain with me. She was trembling as I held her.

After a few minutes, she calmed down and lied next to me, allowing me to stroke and pat her. I even planted a kiss on her forehead. I spent the next 20 minutes talking to her. Her breathing was terribly laboured and she could hardly keep her eyes open. These were symptoms of tick fever or heartworm and it was common in rescue dogs. As we didn’t have a carrier with us and we had to continue our journey to feed the many other starving strays, we decided to leave her for the moment.

My heart was heavy throughout the night. I have never felt so sad in a long time.

Fiona knew what I was thinking and she said to me: “We have 15 dogs to rehome. We can come back for her tomorrow but you’d better work harder in re-homing our dogs!”

The next morning, we gathered 5 volunteers and armed with a carrier and a vet appointment, we went down in the afternoon to save her. It had been raining on and off but we weren’t going to let the weather stop us from saving a life.

We found her lying beside a coffee shop. She allowed Fiona to stroke her forehead but walked away when a lorry stopped in front of her to drop off the workers. We didn’t give chase as the traffic was heavy and we didn’t want her to feel alarmed and get hurt.

She continued walking for the next 15 minutes, stopping frequently to lick the wound. Suddenly she started trotting with a bounce. She seemed so happy – the kind of happiness when you see an old friend or perhaps an angel. We traced her gaze and noticed that standing outside a provision shop was an old uncle who was waving at her to come. She ran towards him and he hugged and patted her. Fiona immediately told the uncle to hold on to her, while gesturing the volunteers to bring the carrier over. With the help of this uncle angel, he put her safely into the carrier.

An angel appeared . . . .Uncle Lim

We told him we were taking her to the vet to have her wound cleaned and to help find a good home for her. The uncle was extremely delighted and supportive. He kept saying she was a good girl and that he had been feeding her for some years and he too noticed all her family members had disappeared. He also mentioned she had disappeared for about a week and only just appeared a few days before, with the wound on her back.

We brought her to the vet. The vet said she was running a pretty high temperature, which explained her laboured breathing and drowsiness. Her wound, albeit not deep, was becoming infected. Blood test also revealed she had tick fever. While her medical conditions weren’t that serious, we knew she was emotionally scarred and that it would be a challenge to heal her broken heart. Imagine having to live with the pain and trauma of losing your family members, one after another, not knowing when and if they will ever be back. 

At the vet, Amber was very scared and worried

The wound on her back

I named her Amber.

Amber is now warded at the vet and we need to find someone to foster her soon. She is very sweet and docile, loves being patted and adores affection. Having grown up in industrial estates, she will need some time to learn to be a domestic pet.

Have you ever seen such a sad doggie?

It will take some time to heal Amber’s broken heart but I will be there to support her. If you can join me in making her smile again by offering her a loving home, please write in to hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.

We can make a difference; we can heal Amber’s broken heart.

Written by Lisa Goh. Video by Phan Y Lan

Sunday Tea With Baby Harper And Friends

HOPE 2014 calendar is finally here! Join us this Sunday at Doggiestyle Café as Harper and friends launch our new 2014 calendar, which features some of our rescue dogs who have touched our hearts and taught us compassion and courage.

Come meet Baby Harper, (L to R) Cooper, Sasha and Oscar this Sunday!

Have tea with us and meet your favourite doggies - baby Harper, tail-wagging Cooper, big-hearted Sasha and sweet Oscar! 

Date: 27 October 2013, Sunday

Time: 2:30pm – 4:30pm

Venue: Doggiestyle Café, NEX mall

(23 Serangoon Central NEX #04R-72, Singapore 556083)

Ticket: $20 per person*

Each ticket entitles you to some delicious snacks, a drink, and a copy of our HOPE 2014 calendar.

Baby Harper, our cover girl for HOPE 2014 calendars.

The tea party is limited to only 40 people. To register your interest, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg with your name and mobile number.

The inside of our calendar. The design of our calendar is very clever and extremely well thought out with our date boxes just the right fit for your Revolution / Frontline stickers.  

You can either make payment via fund transfer or pay on the day of the event.

Please do not bring your dogs as this event is exclusive to our rescue dogs only.

If you can’t stay for tea, fret not! You can still pop by to buy our calendars and say Hello.

Our HOPE 2014 calendars are on sale at $10 each and all proceeds go to our rescue and rehabilitate fund.

So come on down this Sunday and say Hi to our doggies. Remember, the more calendars you buy, the more lives you save!!

Off the Beaten Track (Saving Coco)

Life is a funny thing. In our years of rescue work, we have come across cases where the people who love dogs wholeheartedly have to give them up due to forced circumstances, while at the other end of the spectrum is a group of people who have the means to provide for them but absolutely detest their presence.

If you’ve seen our Facebook post recently, you might have noticed a photo of a seemingly hysterical-looking, unkempt black dog tied to a stilt in a fish farm. The photo broke our hearts and we knew immediately we had to intervene. Additionally, we were told that the dog could have been abandoned given the terrible state she was in. Worried about the dog’s well-being, a couple of us took the afternoon off to investigate the case.


Surveying Coco's home



This was home, with the tiny board for shelter.



Filthy

When we arrived at the farm, we saw a young lady walking three local dogs so we asked if she knew anything about a small, abandoned dog. She pointed us to a makeshift shack held roughly together by some metal grills and metal pieces. Seated at the corner of the metal shack was a petite dog with a leash hanging from her collar and attached to a metal pole, looking at us wide-eyed and bewilderingly. Her fur was greasy, matted and way too overgrown for her tiny frame.



She hadn't been to a vet or groomer in years.

We asked the lady if she knew who the owner was and how long the dog had been at the fish farm. The lady said the dog belonged to her dad’s newly hired worker and that she had been living at the farm for two weeks. According to the lady, the worker would leave the dog in the fish farm overnight after he knocked off from work.

Puzzled as to why the worker wouldn’t take the dog home with him, we requested to speak with the worker privately.

The worker, Mr. L, told us that he found the black dog who he named Coco, when she was around two months old. He didn’t want to reveal too much initially but after some persuasion, he finally opened up and told us that his wife didn’t like dogs and forbade him to keep Coco. Hence, for the past three years, he brought Coco along with him to wherever he worked, whether it was in a farm or at a kelong.

As we spoke, Coco was off leash and she was running and playing freely with the other local dogs. She seemed so happy and carefree then. She didn’t seem the least bit concerned that she didn’t have a proper home and a proper space to live in. In fact, she seemed so comfortable and genuinely happy that she had her owner standing next to her, watching after her as she played along with the bigger dogs.



Look at her jumping at being off-leash.



Happy and friendly, but badly matted

That moment, the reality hit us. While Coco’s living condition was poor, it was clear to us that Mr L. and Coco shared such strong bonds that material things were second to the love they had for each other. It was circumstances that forced him to live the way he did with Coco.

On top of that, with a salary of less than $1000 per month, Mr. L barely has enough to support his wife and children, let alone a dog. However, looking at just how happy and carefree Coco was, do you think it really mattered to Coco that she was filthy, smelly, and unkempt?

Having been through so many cases of animal neglect and abuse and having dealt with countless of people who claimed they loved their dogs but didn’t have the time and capability to support them, it isn’t hard to distinguish the ones who were truly concerned with their dog’s well-being from the ones who weren’t.

In Mr. L’s case, we knew the bond they had was true. If Coco didn’t mind her living conditions as long as she was with Mr. L, do we have the right to separate them? Even if we had the right to do so, we don’t have the heart to do so.

Our job is not to remove and rehome dogs. Our job is to find happiness for the dog. In situations like this, we would offer financial aid and physical support to owners. We told Mr. L that we could assign volunteers to supply and deliver food to Coco on a regular basis, bring Coco to the vet and the groomer, and help with the bills. We also offered to speak with the owner of the fish farm on the possibility of building a shelter to shield her from the vagaries of the weather.

We left him to think while we took a walk around the fish farm. A while later, Mr. L came up to us and said he would like us to help rehome Coco as she would have a better life with another family. His eyes turned red as he spoke. We guessed that even if we gave Coco everything she needed, it still wouldn’t change the fact that he could never take her home with him. And so he took a big step to let her go because he loved her and wanted the best for her.

To other people, he might fall short as an owner but to us, he did the best he could to provide for her and to keep her by his side. He could have abandoned her since the day he got married or he could have given her away but he didn’t. Instead, he took the trouble to bring Coco along with him to wherever he worked and to plead his bosses to grant his dog a place to live.

Such is life; manipulated and forced by circumstances.

Mr. L made a selfless decision to let Coco go. We gave them some time to say their goodbyes and told him to tell her that we were going to take her away to a new place. He patted her, talked to her, tenderly placed her in a carrier and handed the carrier to us. It wasn’t an easy sight to bear.

We headed straight to the vet where Coco had the regular medical tests done including blood works, skin culture and etc. Coco is in perfect health for her age – Coco is six years old. She has a few bad teeth and she has not been sterilized but overall, she is in good health.



Getting a full medical check at the vet



At the vet, with badly matted fur



Coco needs a dental scaling.

Coco is at a foster home now but we are looking for a permanent home for her. We promised her that we would find her a loving home, and to only settle for a home that will love her no less than Mr. L did.

Please help us fulfill this promise to her. Coco is sweet, easygoing, and fun-loving. Although she didn't know how to walk on leash at first, she has received some training from her fosterer and now walks very well, and will constantly look to the person next to her for cues. She has made amazing progress. She gets on well with children and is submissive to other dogs, and she definitely doesn’t behave her age. She is so bubbly and jovial! She behaves like a puppy, possibly because she has been chained up all these years and never really had the chance to play. She's highly intelligent and loves running and playing. She does have mild arthritis in her hind legs though.



After grooming, love and fostering



Gorgeous now

To adopt Coco, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg. For each adopted dog, you make room for us to save one more dog.

Will you give Coco a home?