Dawn. A New Beginning?

I first met her in 2009, she was a feisty one. Fiercely guarding her factory and loyal to the workers that fed her. She was a factory dog and she lived in one of the industrial areas that I frequented to feed sterilize. 

Taken in the factory in 2010, a few days after a car hit her and ripped off her lower limb (right hind)

Taken at the vet in 2010 before her leg amputation and sterilization

In 2010 she was hit by a car and her leg was torn off, the remaining stump left to rot. I saw her one evening while catching strays for sterilization and fortunately found a worker to help us catch her. We took her to the vet, where her right hind leg was amputated and she was also sterilized during the surgery. She was rather fiesty then, and must have been about 3 or 4 years old.

After her hind leg amputation and sterilization (2010)

She was returned to the factory where we then started supplying food on a weekly basis to the workers and our volunteers visited her and the other dogs every Saturday during our feeding sessions, checking on them.  All these past 4 years, things remained fine until that fateful day last week where someone must have been displeased with her barking and called in the authorities to have her taken away.

Taken at the factory in late 2013 where Dawn's skin suddenly became really bad

As Dawn’s factory had been vacated and all her caregivers / workers had left, no one knew she had been taken away, save for a lady working at the factory next door (where we also supply food on a monthly basis) had seen uniformed men trap and take Dawn away and quickly informed us. We went down to AVA the following day to check if she was there and to bail her out, even though we had nowhere to house her and no plans for her, but how could we just sit back and do nothing, knowing her life would be snuffed out in a couple of days.

We contacted Mohan from Animal Lovers League, who kindly took time out from his busy schedule to go down to AVA together with us, to bail Dawn out.

Leaving AVA to go vet for a full medical

After we bailed her out, we took her to the vet for a full medical and to board her there temporarily while we think of her future.

At the vet, fortunately she peed and we noticed she peed blood! Poor Dawn. Who knows how long this has been going on for. Such is the sad life of a stray, no one knows when they are sick, hurt or even gone . . . .

It’s sad that with modernization, people have become less tolerant of many things. If only they learnt to live in harmony, to live and let live, then Dawn would still have a home, albeit in a vacated factory, but at least she would have a home, her friends and to continue living peacefully in a place where she grew up in.

Now comes the dilemma of where Dawn goes.

She is at the vet, ready to be discharged any time, but where can she go? Dogs that are bailed out from AVA cannot be released back on the streets. The deal is that they would need to be licensed and rehomed. Rehoming could mean a factory, a condominium or a landed property, as Dawn is not small enough for HDB living. To a boarding kennel? She would be in major depression, from having the streets as her playground and freedom, to being imprisoned in a strange, scary environment.

Foster home? To start with, we don’t have ready fosters and we still have dogs in commercial boarding. Besides, Dawn isn’t exactly the friendliest, sweetest, most affectionate dog you’ll meet. She is feisty, although fiercely loyal, or how else would she have survived with 3 legs on the streets for 7 to 8 years? What she needs is a patient foster / adopter to house her and to give her lots of time and space to slowly learn to trust humans. Sounds simple but in reality, that seems like asking for the impossible.

Taken at the vet where she is presently warded (July 2014)

And so when we bailed her out from death row without a second thought, thinking that it would be a new beginning for Dawn, were we just kidding ourselves and giving Dawn false hopes?

To adopt / foster Dawn, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg In the meantime, her future is bleak.