Spring Cleaning

It is "spring-cleaning" time of year, now that the new year is just around the corner; out with the unwanted. And to some heartless person, this dog got tossed out.

She is very skinny with her bones jutting out on various parts of her malnourished frame. Her nails are so overgrown that every step she took would have been agony. Both signs point to a long period of neglect before she was finally abandoned.

Ribs protruding and severe skin issues

Wonder how long it took to get the nails to this length?

She was spotted by April, who saw her roaming the housing estate in search of food. Using bread as bait, they managed to put a leash over her head when she came near to eat. She gobbled down some bread and water and collapsed soon after, weak and tired.

She collapsed shortly after April leashed her, weak from hunger, pain and illness

She is not able to sit and cries in pain when she tries to sit. We thought perhaps with her bony frame, it was too painful to sit. Her underside is red and has no fur. She is also on heat and we hope that no male dogs have gotten to her yet.

She is very scared and is possibly in pain, so she growls when we attempt to touch her, though we managed to leash her and rush her to the vet.

Blood droplets on the floor

At the vet, we noticed that if we raised our hands near her face, she would blink her eyes and back off, as if she had been beaten before. Having said that, she would wag her tail when we approached her, and by the end of the vet visit, she was leaning her head on our legs, craving for the touch that she probably never had.

Totally no fur on the lower part of her body. She reminds us of Elmo and Bonnie.

Needing some assurance

The vet commented that this dog had such sad eyes

Her raw and furless skin makes her look old, but in actual fact, she is probably a pretty young dog. The vet that attended to her commented that she had such sad eyes; eyes that had never seen happiness.

She is severely malnourished, dehydrated, weak and in pain. She has been warded and put on fluid therapy. The vet tried drawing some blood from her but it was extremely difficult as her skin had hardened and thickened. Also she was so severely dehydrated that hardly any blood came out from her.

This morning she was rushed in for an emergency life-saving surgery. The vet had noticed that her vulva was producing an extraordinary amount of discharge and further checks showed that she has pyometra. Pyometra happens in unsterilized female dogs and is life-threatening if not treated. Usually dogs in heat are not operated on but because her life was at risk, the vets had to proceed. It is suspected that she may have had this condition for months and would have been a matter of time before it killed her.

Adora, as named by her rescuer, April, is safely out of surgery and has just woken up. If all goes well, she will be discharged tomorrow. Her vet bill, to date, is $3300.

Adora means "beloved one" in Latin. 

Extremely high white blood cell count

Hard time trying to draw blood

She desperately needs help with her vet bills as well as a foster in two days’ time when she is discharged. HOPE is running on full capacity and can’t possibly take her in.

If you can help with :

1)    Vet bills

2)    Fostering

Please send an email to hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg

Why did you throw me out? What did I do wrong? 

Written by: Sam

The Rescue of Chester

If you have ever been touched by the sight of a stray, cold, scrawny looking dog on the side of the road, scavenging for food, looking lost or dodging traffic; if you're simply tired of seeing so many of these beautiful creatures killed by the side of the road, or euthanized by the authorities; then perhaps you could help Chester.

Watch Chester’s rescue.

Chester actually didn't need to be muzzled because he was really sweet and gentle

Maggots were crawling out of his head and ears!

If you can help with his vet bills, foster, adopt Chester, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg so that he would not need to be returned to the streets after his recovery.

Tis the season of giving; let's show Chester some love.

Trixie; A Senior Rescue

It is often said, when you adopt a dog, you’re saving two lives. The dog you adopted and the dog you made room for. And tonight, this held true.

HOPE has always been known to take in senior dogs, dogs with special needs, and sick dogs - basically the less adoptable ones. We feel for them. In fact, we’re known as the rescue group with the most number of special needs dogs. Whereas with puppies, we know lots of people will rush to rescue them. We take in these old and special needs dogs, knowing we would probably be “stuck” with them for life. Of course, at the back of our minds, we hope that fellow dog lovers may open their hearts to them and take one in.  

The vacated factory

Taken 2 years ago when she still had a home in the factory

We have known this cream-coloured mama dog for almost 2 years. She used to have a factory, caregivers and doggie friends. Her best friend was a back female dog, probably as old as her and who may have been her sister. 

This was her best friend / sister 

Last year the factory closed down and left behind many dogs. The workers only took one young male dog with them. This is where Mathilda, Goldilocks, Hachiko and Horlicks came from. Some dogs continued to live in the vacated factory, loyal as dogs can be, waiting for the workers to come back for them. Some found ways out through holes in the fences and came out to look for food. During the day, they would sleep in the vacated factory.

Setting up the bait and carrier to trap her

We have been wanting to take this mama dog, whom we had named Trixie, and her black friend, but we did not have space for either of them. It was only last week that we managed to re-home one dog and thus, freed up room for Trixie. Sadly, her black doggy friend had disappeared some months back, possibly killed in an accident or caught and culled by AVA as this is a high culling area.

Volunteer, Weiling, coaxing Trixie to enter the carrier

After she lost her black doggy friend, she spent most of her days under a tractor, depressed. Her cream coat covered in sores, rough skin and oil. Each week when we fed her, we would notice her getting sadder and sadder. She probably missed her friends and her caregivers. Maybe she had seen so many of her fellow strays get caught and culled that she thought she would be next. 

Home was under this tractor 

We noticed that she was starting to develop difficulty in crawling out from under the tractor. Her hind legs were getting weaker and weaker. She wasn’t a young dog – she looked and acted more than 10 years old but stray dogs age faster so she could possibly be younger. Stray dogs just look old and tired from the years of hard living. Her body was weak and tired.

Looking like a ghost town

We planned to trap her one evening after work before it was too late. It had rained the entire day and it was cold, wet and chilly. Our volunteers braved the drizzle and cold to set up the carrier and lure her into it. It didn’t take more than an hour as she was really hungry (and trusting) and the smell of KFC was too irresistible. 

When we shoved her into the carrier, she didn’t even bother to put up a struggle. She was resigned to her fate. She must have seen too many of her friends get caught and disappear and thought that today, it was her turn to go. It was really sad, she had so much misery in her eyes. While we waited for the transport to take her to the vet, she just lay down in the carrier and trembled from being wet and cold. After a decade of animal rescue,  experience told us that this dog had given up on life. 

She remained despondent during the drive to the vet. Once at the vet though, she actually wagged her tail when she was let out of the carrier – she must have realized she wasn’t doomed. 

Caught!!

Volunteer, Gayle, assuring Trixie everything would be alright

Body covered with oil from the tractor

She was just so tired of life, she allowed us to do as we pleased

Sores on her body

Fractured tooth, missing teeth with pulp exposed. Vet reckoned these were caused by chewing on metal or stones.

As with all our rescues, we spare no expense in ensuring their well-being, so a full medical check and blood work was done. The vet estimated her to be around 7-8 years old, younger than the 10 we thought her to be. Her skin was badly infected and foul smelling. She had lumps in her mammary glands and discharge from her vulva. Fortunately the ultrasound scan showed nothing worrying, although her spleen was enlarged from tick fever. The scan also showed that her organs were all healthy and in good shape, and her uterus had been removed, signifying that someone had sterilized her. She was also severely dehydrated and her blood test showed her to be suffering from tick fever and was very anemic as a result.

Resigned to her fate 

Years of living on the streets

Bad and painful skin

Conduting an ultrasound on her was a breeze

Our monthly expenses are high because of the old and special needs dogs we have - recurring vet bills, supplements for the senior dogs, hydrotherapy and massage for the special needs dogs do not come cheap. And now we have Trixie to add to our monthly maintenance. We’re not burdened by this, because we know that there are many dog lovers and supporters that believe in what we do and will support our work and our rescues.  

Look at those eyes

A weather beaten body and eyes that have seen too much 

After living almost a decade on the streets, we believe that she deserves to be taken off the streets and to live her remaining years in a home where she no longer has to brave the rain, shiver cold and wet under the tractor or have to worry about her next meal. We believe you feel the same, too. 

Help Trixie forget about her sad pass and move on

We cannot imagine how being homeless feels like. Help us shower her with love and make up for all that she has missed out on. If you can help with her vet bills or sponsor her food or buy her a bed to finally rest in, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.

Written by: Sam

Our Saddest Dog, Roxy, Is Now The Happiest! (Renamed Joy)

Who is the saddest dog in the world? Well, it's no longer Roxy that's for sure!

  

Roxy (now renamed Joy) with her new family and her megawatt smile! 

The dog with the big smile on her face now is a far cry from the sad-looking dog who hid in the corner and did not know how to eat and drink from a bowl. It was a long and slow process to get her to where she is today. Her 180-degree transformation is all thanks to our ever patient and dedicated volunteers and fosters. It's their love and patience that have turned turned Roxy's frown upside down. 

Rescued in November 2015 and happily adopted 1 year later.  How blessed she is! 

That million dollar smile that makes everything worthwhile!! 

Read her story here.

Joy in her new home, with her queen sized bed

Best pals! 

Roxy has also been adopted by Peter and family. We always knew that Roxy would do well in a big family as she loves children. Now, she not only has her own human mommy and daddy to love her, she also has a human brother and sister to always get into mischief with together, and an "ah kong" to spoil her as all grandparents do! It is no wonder she can hardly wipe that big grin off her face. That million dollar smile is what makes all our efforts worthwhile.

Forever home

Roxy is now called Joy. Her new name reflects the newfound joy in her heart. Thank you Peter and family for adopting Joy. May your hearts and home always be full of joy (pun intended)!

Brandy's Update

Once again, we are witness to just what an incredible tool social media can be. After the story of our latest rescue Brandy first went up (read it here if you have not already), her feeder happened upon it and contacted us immediately. We were happy to take her feeder, HP, to visit Brandy at the vet. 

Poor Brandy, in pain and in an unfamiliar place, was just lying listlessly in her cage and did not even know HP had come to visit her at first. But her demeanor totally changed when HP called her. She was as happy to see HP as HP was relieved to see her, and she jumped up to greet HP with her tail wagging non-stop like a propeller. HP told us that Brandy's street name was Puteh, which means white, even though she has her lovely brown patches. Brandy was born some time in 2009, and HP and friends have been feeding her since then. Brandy was 1 of 4 puppies who were dumped at the site by someone in a lorry, according to a security guard who had witnessed it. They were about 4 months old then, and the security guard had taken it upon himself to feed them. When Brandy was 6 months old, HP did the responsible thing and sterilized her and has been in charge of feeding her each night since then. Talk about commitment and dedication!

Imagine spending her entire life as a stray

Of the 4 puppies, Brandy is the only one left on the streets. 2 of her siblings were taken to a shelter after their sterilization, for their own safety, as they enjoyed chasing bicycles and the boss of a nearby factory had lodged a complaint against them. 1 other had taken ill a few years ago and passed on. Brandy loved her freedom and was a little wary of people so was not easy to catch. But she managed to stay out of trouble as, unlike her more enthusiastic siblings, all she wanted to do was take long naps at bus stops or under lorries. 

Brandy has a shoulder (scapula) fracture and the sling is to restrict movement, for her bones to fuse together.

HP reckons that Brandy's accident may have taken place on Saturday night as she did not come out to eat, and they could not find her. She must have been in so much pain after getting hit by a car, and went into hiding. Brandy has since been discharged and staying temporarily with a volunteer as no one has come forth to offer to foster her. She is on pain medication for her injury and is also being treated for her ear infection and heartworm. Though a little depressed, she is eating well, and absolutely lights up when she gets visitors. She also had her first bath experience at the vet. She is fitting her old street name more, now that some of the "brown" have washed off! Her injured leg has been put in a sling, to prevent her from moving it too much or resting any weight on it so that it can heal properly. Her arm would need to be in a sling for 2 months or so for the bones to fuse back; she has a fracture on her shoulder.

Brandy is gorgeous! 

Brandy needs help with her vet bills and a foster who can keep her confined in a room and feed her meals and medication twice daily. Also, since she is used to going wherever she pleases, whenever she pleases, she will try to escape so her foster home should be doggy-escape-artist-proof.

If you can foster Brandy, or help with her vet bills, email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg

Written by: Sam