Is it better to have known and lost something, than to never have known it at all? "Something" here refers to life in a home. Most of our rescues have never known what it means to live in a home, until they are rescued. Today's story is about the former. A golden retriever found leashed to a lamp post in Tiong Bahru Park. That he was a golden retriever and that he was tied to a lamp post with a leash rather than free-roaming indicated that he was someone's dog. That park goers had seen him there since morning and his gums and mouth were bleeding from trying to chew off the leash pointed to the fact that he had very obviously been abandoned.
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| Screenshot from Facebook "Lost & Found" page on 10 November 2016 |
We were informed of his situation in the late afternoon by a member of the public. We advised him to take the dog home to calm him down and feed him some water while waiting for us to come pick him up. We picked the dog up at 4pm and took him to the vet immediately. At the vet, he was scanned for a microchip and while he was chipped, there was no records of him being registered at AVA. However, there was a record for his microchip number at SPCA. Apparently, this goldie had strayed in 2009 and was picked up by SPCA and was later claimed by someone who said he was the owner despite not having an AVA license as proof.
We did not subject him to too much at his first vet visit and we checked him into commercial boarding as we did not have a foster space available. A couple of days later when he was more settled, we took him back to the vet for a thorough checkup. He was found to have long term skin issues and an ear infection. His ears were crinkled, which implied the possibility of hematoma in both ears, and he had a chipped tooth. He also had tick fever and was also suffering from arthritis and weakness in his hind limbs. We also noticed that he drank more water than what a normal dog would so a blood test was done to check his kidney and liver functions. Thankfully, those results came back fine and we reckoned perhaps he was not given enough water in the past. He now drinks a more regular amount of water.
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| Crinkled ears, possibly from hematoma |
The vet gave him topical creams for his sore skin, and he was also given a shave all over to allow the cream to be more easily applied. There was oral medication for the itch and a medicated shampoo to be used 3 times a week. He also had medication to treat his ear infection and tick fever.
Two weeks later, he was back at the vet for a review. Thanks to his fosterer who kept him cool in a air-conditioned room to soothe his itch, his skin was looking alot better. He also had dental scaling done and fortunately, his chipped tooth did not need to be extracted. He was also sterilized and will be back at the vet to be vaccinated in a few weeks.
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| Looking good, Mr Charlie Brown |
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| With lots of tender loving care from his foster, Charlie is now looking good and feeling great! No longer is he depressed or scratching non-stop from his severe skin irritations. |
His case of abandonment was reported to both AVA and SPCA. AVA had written back that the dog is not licensed or registered and is officially the property of HOPE and we were given the green light to re-home the dog. We have since named him Charlie which means "free man". We hope that Charlie will be free from the shackles of his unhappy past, and will be re-homed to a loving family soon.
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| Charlie is an absolute sweetheart who still plays and behaves like a baby |
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| Easy going and laid back |
His new family must be aware of his needs, physically and financially, for Charlie is a senior dog:
- Estimated 12 years old and relatively healthy
- He is on home cooked meals (2 meals a day, 600gm of meats per meal plus a serving of vegetables and fruits)
- He is messy with his food and water
- He tends to hump men, a behaviour we are in the midst of correcting
- Minimum of 2 walks a day, more would be a bonus
- Air-conditioning or fan when he is home as it helps his skin
- Mild separation anxiety – barks for quite a while if he doesn’t see humans around
- Fear of rain / thunder / loud noise
- Curious about cats, although we don't know what will happen if he finally gets close enough to them
- Not good with young children
- Early signs of cataract
- He will need to be on supplements for his kidney, liver and joints
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| Charlie absolutely loves human companionship
Charlie is not HDB-approved and should also not to be kept as an outdoor / guard dog.
If you would like to give Charlie a home, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.
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Written by: Sam
