Food For Thought

A 2 mth old puppy living in dangerous conditions, waiting for food

“Do not feed the strays” – you might have heard this phrase at some point in your life.  You may or may not agree with this dispensed ‘wisdom’, but we at HOPE Dog Rescue believe that feeding the street dogs is the best way forward, not the other way around. And it works best for these poor dogs’ welfare, and who knows, perhaps for our brownie points as well.


We carry out our missions with good reason and gravity, and we sincerely hope that by the end of this article, you’ll be able to see things from our perspective. Maybe you’ll even find it in your heart to help us with our projects.

Not a life we can ever imagine

Many people disapprove of stray-feeding because “it encourages strays to breed”. Theoretically, giving these dogs food keeps them alive, and provides them with opportunities to breed. However, withholding food from these street dogs iis by no means a way to curb their population. For a fact, even hungry dogs can propagate. And their newborn puppies often go hungry as their mommies hardly have food for themselves, let alone milk to nurse them. At this point, you might think; why not deny them food then? A dead dog can’t breed. But is this what we want? Is this the most humane and compassionate means to control the stray dog population? 

Stray pup with eyes barely open, stuck on a sheet of metal

We build makeshift shelters for the puppies

Jac giving the street dogs some loving

A much better and kinder way of preventing strays from breeding would be to sterilize them. Our “Spay It Forward” program advocates a catch-and-release system. We bring in strays for sterilization before releasing them back to where we found them. Gradually, the stray population will be reduced. Feeding is a great way to carry out our “Spay It Forward” program. Why? As the dogs become more familiar with our volunteers, they’ll develop enough trust for us to approach them such that we are able to bring them to our vets, be it for sterilization or for injuries sustained from industrial accidents or dog fights. Without this trust, it would be difficult for our “Spay It Forward” program to reach these sometimes distressed dogs.

All this food just for the night as we also distribute food to workers

We provide food to factories who have care-givers

Our volunteers also get to know the dogs well through regular feeding rounds. This enables us keep track of the stray population in various industrial areas, as well as any new pups who are eligible for sterilization. This way, we can sterilize them before they reach breeding age. As such, our feeding and sterilization programs go hand in hand. This is a more organized and humane way of preventing breeding, rather than simply withholding food from stray dogs. This way, they can live their lives as strays in marginally increased comfort without more unwanted pregnancies. These dogs may not be pedigrees, but they deserve the right to live as much as you and me.

We apply Frontline on the street dogs in the hope that they won't get tick fever

Applying antiseptic powder on dogs with wounds and injuries

Another reason people commonly give for not feeding strays that is that “it attracts vermin”. The rationale behind this is that when you leave food for strays, you are also feeding pests such as rats and cockroaches with the leftovers. This may be true if you’re feeding your neighbourhood stray that’s already well fed by other kindly residents, but not with street dogs. The strays that live in the industrial areas have no proper source of food apart from what we give them. If we do not feed them, these dogs would be so desperate for food that they would devour bones, rubbish, stale food, and even stones. Yes, you heard us right. They would be so famished that they’ll resort to eating stones. Needless to say, they’ll await our weekly visits with much anticipation, and every morsel is ravenously gobbled down. In other words, there’s simply nothing left for pests!

This little puppy will be sterilized in two weeks' time

That is why we continue to nourish these dogs. Truth is, they have no cushy homes to find solace in. They don’t have anyone to love them like we do. And they don’t have anyone to bring them to the vet when they’re sick or in pain. With all this in mind, we can’t bear to let them go without food as well, or to watch them die a slow and agonizing death without doing anything to help. Simply put, our goal is to reduce and manage the stray population by sterilizing them, while allowing the remaining dogs to live a better life for the rest of their days.

We provide them with milk / food and sterilize them when they are of age

Would you help us fill these poor dogs’ bellies, and give them a chance to live? Their lives are hard enough, and it’s only right we give them a little kindness. A little goes a long way, and it would mean the world to them. If you would like to sponsor food for these street and factory dogs, please email fiona@hopedogrescue.org  The most precious gift you can give is the gift of love.

Written by Elena Lin

Food For Hope (On-Going Project)

Hunger knows no boundaries. Hunger exists, even in a rich affluent country like Singapore.


As you read this, many dogs (and some cats) are waiting for night to fall, waiting and listening for the sound of our car in the distance, telling them this is the night they will be fed. For the many streets dogs, they may never know the luxury of a simple drink of water, or small plate of food. They will struggle through the day and wait for darkness to bring the sound of our car's rumbling engine.

A lonesome, stray puppy.

Feeding in teams, we usually hit the industrial streets after nightfall as the strays don’t usually come out that early. Night is when it is cool, safer with lesser humans and traffic. By feeding these street dogs, we hope to lessen their hardship of street life. Once they've had their fill, these dogs often return to their hiding places; at least for the next day or two, they will not need to wander the streets in search of food. Perhaps some of them will not be hit by cars; others will not become targets of human cruelty.

Packed food is not always available!

A female dog searching for food, with evidence of the many litters of puppies she must have had on the streets having not yet been sterilized.

A factory dog waiting patiently for his food to be prepared. Not all are this fortunate to have workers that care for and feed them.

A very old stray whose legs were too weak to carry him.

Stale food that we could smell as we entered the factory compounds.

There is always much heartbreak in the types of scenes and situations we witness. The unbearable heat poses a hardship beyond our understanding on stray dogs trying to survive. Can any of us imagine going for weeks without clean water to drink? Of course, street dogs never actually drink clean water, but at least regular rainfall flushes out some of the filth from the puddles they go to for relief. With no rainfall, a stray must drink whatever they find, and I can tell you from my experience of seeing it, what they drink is sad; but they drink it anyway, because they must.

Drinking muddy water to survive

Drinking whatever water they can find

Feeding the strays is a commitment because they have come to expect the food you bring for them on a regular basis and each night of feeding takes us a few hours to complete. However, if you feel that feeding them is hard work, how much harder it must be for them trying to live there and survive?

Giving a starved stray a meal

Puppies caged up. We provide food to the workers, feed the puppies and deworm them. They will be sterilized in a month's time.

Signs of how hard her life must be

Life is hard enough for them. Help us provide them with regular meals.

Preparing their meals during a feeding round

One factor of our work that will never change; as long as there is a presence of stray dogs who need our help, we will continue to do what we do. One might question why we continue to travel industrial estates, night after night (at no small risk to ourselves) and shoulder ever rising expenses such as medical bills, food to feed the strays, petrol costs, etc? How do we weigh or measure the work we do? Together with volunteers, I have rescued puppies trapped under metal beams, a dog with an ear wound so huge that she eventually lost her ear and a puppy with huge tyre marks across his back, just to name a few. Had we not been there to take these dogs from the streets, to the vet, they would have been left to endure that pain and suffering and eventually die a slow death.

The stray who lost her ear and hearing

I see their faces and I cannot forget. And so I will return again and again because I have looked into the eyes of those who need us and, no matter what it takes, we cannot refuse them our help.

Puppy crushed by metal beams; she had to be put down.

So, in answering the question as to why we continue to pound the streets feeding these stray dogs - I recall their faces, the look in their eyes, the sound of their little paws running to greet us when our cars pull up, and my answer is to ask a second question: How could we stop?


If you are wondering whether or not to contribute, try to imagine the many faces of the street dogs, all starved and in that moment you will see in your mind what we see during the course of a single night on the streets.

Enjoying the food you buy for them

"I don't need a bowl for this!"

Remember as you prepare to retire for the evening, that our volunteers are busy cooking and preparing to go out and hit the streets in industrial estates, after a hard day’s work.


Let’s all give these street dogs HOPE for a better future.


To buy canned food for them, these are some of your options:


1. Pets HQ - Blk 221, Boon Lay Place, #02-112, Boon Lay Shopping Centre, S(640221) 

Tel: 6265 8510 (Peggy) (You may call Peggy to place your orders, then send them a cheque.)


2. PolyPet - Blk 109, Clementi Street 11 (off Sunset Way), #01-29, S(120109)
Tel: 6779 5309 (Marcus) (A direct fund transfer is possible.)

Nature's Gift Canned Food (700g) - available in beef, chicken and lamb.

$30 per carton of 12 cans or $2.50 per can 

For purchase of dry food (kibbles), we have a very special deal with a pet food supplier.

For more information on how you can help us help the animals, please email Fiona at pops_snaps@singnet.com.sg


Thank you for giving them HOPE.

Photo Credits : Jamie Chan
Poster Credits : Chua Xinyi and Yip Jie Ying