Our volunteers spent 5
hours with Goldilocks. That’s what we call her, the sweet stray that we just
bailed out from AVA.
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| Just out from the pound, terrified and soaked in pee |
We had been feeding
her on the streets for the past 4 years and two days back she was caught by
AVA. Fortunately a feeder informed us and this morning we went to bail her out.
As a norm with all our rescues, we send them to the vet right away for a full
medical. She had previously been sterilized so today was a blood test for
heartworm, tick fever, kidney and liver functions. She was also vaccinated while at the vet.
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| Ear tattoo to show she has been sterilized |
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| Sweet Goldilocks. Traumatized, tired and worried |
Blood test results
revealed that although her kidney and liver functions were good, poor
Goldilocks has heartworm (both baby and adult worms), tick fever and low red
blood count. We will start her on treatment as soon as we can afford it. Vet
estimated her to be about 5 to 6 years old, although the fur on her muzzle is
white from years of tough living on the streets. We have been overwhelmed by
many new cases recently, namely Jubilee the National Day poodle (who also had
heartworm), Baby’s never ending vet bills, Danny Boy and a new case of a
severely abused Silky Terrier.
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| Her extra "tail" of badly matted fur |
Goldilocks is very
sweet, showing no signs of aggression when the vet checked her, drew blood from
her or opened her mouth to examine her teeth. Poor Goldilocks smells moldy and
damp, her long coat soaked in rain and mud over the past many years that she
has lived on the streets. When we took her out from AVA, her entire body was
soaked in pee, she must have been terribly traumatized when she was caught and
locked in the small cage at the pound, thinking that she was the next in line
to be put down. Thank goodness we managed to save her life.
Her tail is so badly
matted, she looks like she has an extra tail. The fur on her tail is so long
that she steps on it when she walks and it drags and picks up all the mud and
soil from the roads. We have never been able to pat her all these years, as she
often kept her distance at arm’s length, thus we were never able to trim the long
fur on her tail. We wonder how they managed to catch her. Today was the first
time we patted, touched and hugged her, after 4 years of feeding her. It was
nice to finally meet her and say Hello in person.
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| So sad that a beautiful dog has to live this way. |
While at the vet, many
a times she had tried to make a dash for the door but we were unperturbed
because having worked with strays for many years, we almost can read their
minds. They will try to escape, not because they don’t like us, but simply
because they don’t know our good intentions and the streets are all they know.
*Goldilocks is small in size, weighing just 15kg and HDB Approved.
