Ocean and Paris (Ex-breeding dogs rescue)

 “You want take Shetland and Poodle? Come today, here no space.” 

We received a call right after Christmas from a breeder who needed to “clear his retired stock”. The 2 dogs they wanted to get rid of is a 12-year-old Shetland Sheepdog and a 1-year-old Poodle. We made immediate arrangements to head down because we know the fate of these 2 dogs are going to be grim if we don’t. 

Paris and Ocean's very first time out in the sunshine <3 

The first thing that hit us when we arrived at the farm was the smell, or rather the stench of dogs who hadn’t had baths in years and their pitiful yelping and barking. We weren’t allowed in the areas where they kept the breeding dogs, but from experience, we are very well aware that they are kept in tiny filthy cages where they lived, breathed, ate, peed, pooed till they are no longer commercially lucrative.  

The worker who is in charge of the dogs greeted us at the showroom, a cozily furnished area where they bring out puppies to show prospective pawrents. A completely stark contrast to where their breeding dogs spent their days. He brought out the Sheltie, a super sweet girl with beguiling eyes and a gentle demeanor. She waddled around to sniff us curiously, wondering why we are there. She was grossly overweight.

Breeding dogs are kept in their cages 24/7, they have never seen the sunshine, breathed fresh air, felt grass beneath their paws or taken a single walk in their short, sad lives. Its actually rare that we have an overweight breeding dog - further chats with the worker revealed that the Sheltie is one of his favourite charges – he probably fed her more than the others but she doesn’t get the exercise needed. Breeding dogs rarely get medical care they need and are usually fed cheap kibbles to keep costs down and when their health no longer allows them to reproduce, they are disposed of unceremoniously.

The 1-year-old poodle is an energetic furball pacing excitedly in his cage, sniffing the air with anticipation, too innocent to understand what’s happening in the big, bad world they are born into. We signed the release papers and took their registration cards from the worker, hearts heavy and eager to leave the place which we all know too well the miserable lives breeding dogs lead, yet unable to save them all.

Ocean the poodle

We carried both dogs out to where we parked our cars and took our first inspection of them. The poor Sheltie’s hind legs had no muscle tone, caused by years of standing in the cramped cage. The condition of the poodle wasn’t too bad, his saving grace of being released from a lifetime of breeding was he only has one testicle, which is a heritable defect which made him unable to reproduce. 

Paris the sheltie, a total sweetheart

Decayed teeth after years of neglect and malnutrition 

Paris - badly matted fur and weak hind legs (later with xray, we found out she has hip dysplasia)

Sore paws from standing on the metal cage

We leashed them up and sat them on our laps to bring them to the vet for full medical checks and start them on treatments they desperately needed. Both of them were so well-behaved during the car ride, inquisitively looking out of the window and listening to us assuring them that their lives will only get better. We felt so sorry for the Sheltie who had lived the most part of her life being a commercial commodity for us humans in deplorable conditions. We will fulfil our promise to her that she will live out the rest of her life with a family who will love and care for her, which all sentient beings deserve. 

Adopt, don’t shop. We can’t emphasize this enough. Because of the demand of puppies, breeding dogs are bred. It’s a vicious cycle that only we can put a stop to. Before you purchase that cute little puppy at the window, do stop and think of where they came from and the desolate lives their mummy and daddy dogs lead, all for the purpose of moolah and human wants. 

We have named the Sheltie “Paris” and the Poodle “Ocean”. Paris - a beautiful name befitting of a sweet and gentle soul. Ocean - young and freedom rightfully restored.

Both of them have cleared their medical reviews and will be put up for adoption in the days ahead. Do look out for their adoption posts in our Facebook and Instagram pages and if you are able to provide a loving home for them, email us at hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg 

We hope you understand that we want nothing less than good homes for them and our standard adoption screening and procedures applies. Thank you for supporting the rescue work we do. We cannot save every one of the breeding dogs in those cages, but we can change the lives of the ones we save. And we are going to do it with your help, with zealousness and a determined focus to ensure that every dog that chances through Hope Dog Rescue gets a happily-ever-after.