Ah Girl. A Tired, Lonely Soul

We first got to know about Ah Girl from a Malay lady who reported a white dog loitering at a service station. The lady’s husband was a taxi driver who frequented that area and often saw Ah Girl in the same spot. Ordinarily, he would not have paid much attention to the dog except that he observed that Ah Girl appeared to be injured as she was limping badly, and had lost an eye. Worried, he shared his observations with his wife, who decided that something had to be done to save the dog. She then contacted HOPE Dog Rescue and informed us about the dog. 



Eyes that have never seen happiness



Concerned about the welfare of Ah Girl, I contacted the Malay lady the next day and she met me so we could go to the service station together to assess Ah Girl’s condition. We found Ah Girl sprawled on the cold, hard concrete floor of a cramped storeroom, unable to move. It was a heart-wrenching sight. She had lost her left eye, probably in a previous accident, and her eye had been stitched up. Her stomach was unnaturally swollen and there were multiple wounds on her legs.  She was famished and looked sadly at us as we pondered what to do. We tried to get her to move but her legs failed her. When we tried to lift her up, she shrieked in unbearable pain, and our hearts broke at what she might be going through.

Ah Girl's home, a cramped store room

A broken right front leg, from a previous accident

An extremely distended stomach

When we spoke to the service attendants, they said that Ah Girl was about 13 years old and lived in the area around the service centre. In the day, she would typically move around on her own but would always return to the storeroom in the evenings. The attendants let her sleep there and would feed her whatever biscuits or leftover scraps they could find. Several years ago, she was involved in a car accident which led to the loss of her left eye. She had also been in another accident which broke her right front leg. The attendant remarked that Ah Girl was a good dog and didn’t bother anyone at the centre. Instead, the sweet girl was often bullied by a pack of stray dogs in the area and also abused by humans who would walk past and kick or hit her. As she was too weak to move, she would just bear the brunt of it. The storeroom was her only refuge from the harsh world outside.

Unable to move from traffic

I often wondered if dogs could commit suicide

Seeing how bad Ah Girl’s condition was, we decided that despite our limited resources, we could not refuse a dog crying for help. The next day, even on short notice, we managed to get a few of the volunteers together to rescue Ah Girl. The poor girl was too weak to put up a fight so she laid limply in our arms as we lifted her into the pet carrier. However, as we were making arrangements to take her to a vet, we were shocked to discover that Ah Girl was not a “stray” and her “owner” was a Chinese lady who ran a business nearby. Clearly, Ah Girl had been severely neglected by her owner. In fact, the owner was not even aware that Ah Girl was seriously ill. Imagine our horror when one of the employees insisted that we brought Ah Girl back to the service centre once she had been discharged. He even claimed that Ah Girl was licensed and microchipped.

Not a lot of teeth left

At the vet, blood tests and x-rays were carried out. Ah Girl’s breathing was terribly laboured and she was diagnosed with tick fever, anaemia, heart murmur and heart failure. X-rays revealed that her stomach was so distended with fluids caused by her heart failure that the vet needed to do a needle aspiration to drain out the fluids. That explained her difficulty in breathing. Despite the bloated stomach, we could feel her ribs protruding and the vet commented that she was extremely malnourished.

  

The nerves in her hind legs were poor, possibly from old age, past accidents or both. She was also severely arthritic. Each time she stood up, she would lose her balance and fall flat on her face, it was a sorry sight. She would then bravely pick herself up and try again. After a few rounds of struggling, she would manage to stand and she had to walk quickly, to build the momentum so she would not fall again, much like riding a bicycle.

The vet put her on a drip as she was severely dehydrated and scanned for a microchip; she had none.  

Fluids in her extremely distended stomach, caused by heart failure

The vet’s words gutted us. To hear that a dog that lived such a miserable life might have such a miserable end was heart wrenching. When we tried to cheer Ah Girl up, she just looked at us with eyes that had never experienced happiness. Even if we were to heal her ailments, there was no way we could put her back onto the streets, not when we now know that she might one day die out there alone, unwanted, unloved. While we were waiting to take her to the vet, we had witnessed many cars driving dangerously around Ah Girl as she could not stand up to move away from the dangers of the traffic.

Caring for Ah Girl is not a lot of work. She spends her days sleeping, goes for short walks 3x a day just to do her toileting. At times, she may pee in the middle of the night as she is old and unable to hold her pee for long hours. She loves cooked food and has been eating well. She needs to go to the vet for a review every two weeks, just to check her blood count and ensure no fluids in her stomach and lungs. Once that has stabilized, her visits to the vet will be lessened.

Ah Girl is such an amazing dog. Despite having been through years of neglect and abuse, she still remains friendly, gentle and trusting. We are urgently looking for someone to give Ah Girl a permanent home in her remaining years. She asks for nothing more than decent meals and a roof over her head for her to live out her golden years.

If you would like to adopt Ah Girl or make contributions to help defray the high cost of Ah Girl’s treatment, please email fiona@hopedogrescue.org 

Written by Lynn Chue. Video by Esther Low. Photographs by Esther and Lisa Goh.

Note from Fiona :  One can never imagine the hard life of a stray. When I first laid eyes on Ah Girl lying in the middle of the car park, I instantly felt that she needed to be taken to safety. Thirteen years on the streets! I can’t even begin to imagine how strong she is to have survived 13 years of hardship. The tiredness of the same old daily struggles. Strays generally don’t live past 7 to 9 years old before they fall prey to illnesses and accidents but 13 years for an old arthritic dog who had heart failure, one broken leg and just one eye, she sure deserved a good loving home for all that she has gone through.

Ah Girl is one of the gentlest, sweetest strays I have ever met, undemanding and grateful. (But then again, I say that of all our rescued strays!) When I held her in my arms, I could feel her loneliness and sadness. It’s not often we come across dogs with such deep sadness. Her sadness was indescribable, a lifetime of abuse, neglect and loneliness. She didn't know what love was. Her sadness also stemmed from the fact that she was unwell, she felt her body failing her and yet there was nothing she could do, but to continue to struggle and survive day by day. As I kissed her forehead gently and promised her everything would be alright from today onwards, I felt her heave a sigh of relief. And I thought I heard her say Thank You.

Ah Girl is presently fostered by Sooh Yee and we thank her for her kindness. We thank Emilia for informing us of Ah Girl's plight, Lisa, Lynn and Esther for helping with the rescue, Lynette and Amy for giving Ah Girl her very first hair trim and bath as she was very badly matted, and volunteers who had cooked for Ah Girl daily during her stay at the vet.

We appeal to your kindness to help Ah Girl with her vet bills, as she needs to go back to the vet for reviews and to please open your heart to Ah Girl. Show her there is love and happiness after suffering for 13 years, that her struggles were worthwhile.

Calrose's Happy Ending

One thing that has changed since I started volunteering with HOPE is how I look at the stray dogs that roam the streets. In the past, I might walk past a street dog with only a fleeting glance, I now find myself sizing up the health and well-being of the dogs I occasionally encounter. And it’s because of dogs like Calrose.

Calrose is a Shih Tzu cross that someone spotted crossing the road and quickly grabbed before he got hit by a car. On closer inspection, it turned out that Calrose is blind and could not see where he was going, and he was shivering and extremely scared. So the kind passerby called HOPE for help.

Calrose at the vet

We brought him to a vet for a full check-up. In the car on the way to the vet, Calrose was very frightened and shivered non-stop. Perhaps he had a nasty experience in a car before, or was abandoned after a car ride? Since he was also blind, it could have been very frightening for him to be taken into the unknown.

At the clinic, the doctor confirmed that he was, sadly, totally blind from cataracts that had gone untreated. He had hundreds of ticks swarming all over his body and his body was covered with sores from tick bites, so he had to be shaved. His tick infestation was so bad that it took three rounds of de-ticking to get rid of everything.

Tick bites all over his body

In addition, his teeth were rotten and his breath was terrible. Fiona carried him tightly and told him everything would be alright, and this seemed to calm him down somewhat. He stopped shivering, and even licked Fiona’s face many times – his bad breath was all over her face but she didn’t mind.

Apart from the ticks, the cataracts and his rotten teeth, Calrose turned out to be in reasonably good health given his age – he is estimated to be about 11 to 12 years old. His sense of smell is very strong, perhaps to compensate for his loss of sight.

There were crystals found in his urine. This is sometimes caused by diet or it may sometimes indicate the presence of bladder stones, and there has also been evidence that it could be genetic and more common in some breeds than others. Treatment depends on the crystal type – some can be dissolved by taking certain solutions, and even flushed out by drinking lots of water, while larger crystals may require surgery.

Calrose as he is today!

Initially, during his foster period, he had severe separation anxiety and would cry and panic whenever he was left alone. Turning on the television or radio made no difference to him as what he needed was human warmth.

However, Calrose has since been adopted into a loving family. These days he is much better, gets on well with dogs and humans and despite his own sorry state, is happy and easygoing. When night falls, he needs to sleep beside a person, to feel that warmth, comfort and assurance that he will no longer be abandoned.

Calrose and his new family (Straits Times, 5 January 2013) 

Straits Times, 12 January, 2013

Rescuing him from the streets has made a whole world of difference for him, and we were glad to see him find a home, which is surely what he wished for when we found him wandering around blindly, driven to despair by ticks and fear, wondering where his next meal would come from.

And now, when I see a stray dog wondering by, I wonder what they go through and whether there’s a happy ending waiting for them, some day.

HOPE thanks SB and family for loving Calrose.

To adopt a dog from HOPE, please email sherry@hopedogrescue.org

Story by Lin Yan Qin 

Matthieu Needs A Miracle (3rd Update)

Dearest Matthieu has been staying in his cage at the vet's since the last blog update on 3rd of November 2012 as no offers of fostering came in. For a dog who is used to the outdoors all his life, Matthieu is depressed being cooped up in the confined space of the cage.

Sweet Matthieu

The volunteers try to bring him out for fresh air and exercise once or twice a week but the weather has not been cooperating, raining each time when we were there. So we ended up sitting with him outside the clinic, patting, massaging him and getting him to walk a few steps every now and then for hours each time. He loves the attention and being out of the clinic environment. We saw him progress from trembling slightly with fear at the beginning to having a big grin on his face, looking totally relaxed. Sometimes he would fall asleep while we chatted. 

Enjoying all the female attention

Sherry and Leslie encouraging Matthieu to walk

Taking a breather

Matthieu has been tested positive for ringworms and because of this, is unable to proceed with his spinal surgery. Unfortunately there seems to be one delay after another for his surgery and we are terribly worried about his well being. We are praying that his ringworms will clear so he can proceed with the surgery but being cooped up in the cage at the vet is not the best of deals.

If only we could have someone to foster Matthieu for 2 weeks, that's all we ask. Two weeks and we are pretty sure he would be rid of the ringworms and he can have his much needed spinal surgery.

Will someone please foster Matthieu? His muscles have wasted away. There are red fluids in his pee, a result of his muscles wasting away and the delays are really just working against poor Matthieu.

This is not blood in his pee. According to the vet, this is muscle wasting away.

Like all surgical procedures, there is a risk but the positive results can be life changing for this poor boy who has gone through so much in his life.

According to orthopedic specialist, Dr Ben Landon, Matthieu's condition might improve or remain the same after the spinal surgery but it will not get worse. We were concerned that he might also lose the use of his front limbs but Dr Landon assured us that the 2 front limbs will not be affected. We will take the risk and hope for the best.

He has gone through way too much

After the surgery, Matthieu will need hydrotherapy, massage and acupuncture regularly to awake and strengthen the muscles, improve mobility and the blood circulation in his body. Hopefully we will see positive results in about 6 weeks after the surgery.

Trying to get Matthieu to exercise

Matthieu has been receiving acupuncture 2 to 3 times weekly since he was warded. While the progress has been slow or insignificant, he has had made attempts to stand even though he did not succeed. We hope that with the continued treatments of acupuncture combined with hydrotherapy and massages, we will see a more significant progress.

Please pray for Matthieu that his spinal surgery will be a success and year 2013 will be a brand new beginning for him. Thank you all for your kind support and concern for this gentle soul. 

To foster or adopt Matthieu, please email sherry@hopedogrescue.org.

Written by Leslie Kok. Photographs courtesy of Buveneswari.

Scotty’s Update

Showered with love and care, Scotty is making good progress in his recovery. He is now happier and stronger compared to the day he was found and rescued. =)


Happy to have been saved

When we first brought him in to the vet, we really thought he was not going to pull through due to his heartworm condition and his severe ear injury. We had even contemplated letting  him leave peacefully to ease him of all his pain and misery. Yet, we had a strong hunch his time was not up - he wants to live on. No way were we going to end an innocent life and deprive him of the chance to live and be loved again.

The very next day after Scotty was warded, HOPE volunteers prepared home-cooked food for him. He simply gobbled it down in a matter of seconds and even went for 2nd and 3rd rounds of the food. He was ravenous! This must be the first time in his life that he tasted such delicious food.

He’s currently on Heartgard for his heartworm treatment, and the wound at his ear still requires daily medical attention and a change of bandage twice daily. We were told by the clinic assistant that 3 people were required when changing his bandage - one to hold his head, one to hold his body, and one to clean his wound. Such a strong boy!

This wound on his back has since dried and healed

There are thick layers of bandage around his head and ear that causes him to keep scratching and shaking his head to ease the discomfort.  Thus, we had to put an e-collar on him. Sadly, Scotty’s left ear is permanently damaged and will remain deaf for the rest of his life.

Poor Scotty is now deaf in his left ear

Scotty has lived in a filthy and cramped condition for the last 10 years yet we discovered he has trained himself to keep his living area clean. He used his paw to push open the unlatched cage, came out to ease himself, and then went straight back into the cage. It looked smart, but in actual fact it was a sad scene. It simply told us that that was his life at the fish farm - no love, no freedom; a caged life.

Comes out of his cage to ease himself

Each time when HOPE volunteers visited him, he would wag his tail with such eagerness, welcoming us and reach out to us through the cage yearning for our touch. Seeing his trust in us just makes us more resolved to help sweet Scotty.

Loving all our visits

Look at the cheeky face

Scotty’s life is still at risk as he has yet to undergo the full heartworm treatment - which may prove too strong for him and he may not survive it. In spite of this, we HOPE and believe for the best! Nothing will stop us from giving him all the love and care that he deserves while he still has a breath.

Strays are really hardy creatures with a strong will to survive and are able to endure hardships extremely well. When I first found him, I didn’t hear a single whine from him although the maggots had eaten away almost half of his ear. For Scotty, every day for the last 10 years was all about survival. Thankfully he’s finally out of it, out of that living hell.

Scotty’s road to recovery will be a long journey as the wound at his ear and his heartworm condition is too severe. His medical bill is snowballing everyday as his treatment is quite extensive and he is required to recuperate at the clinic for the next month or so. Continuous support is required to sustain his life and medical bills so as to give him the chance to live again. He is now in safe hands and we hope not to have to return him to the fish farm anymore, if someone is willing to adopt him.

Thank you for saving me!

SPCA is still investigating the case but till now we’ve not received any feedback from them. It’s taking a tad bit too long since they already have all the required evidence. We hope to see justice carried out for Scotty’s suffering for the past 10 years.

Written by Phoebe Lim, Photography by Esther Low

Now you can buy HOPE!

Celebrate World Animal Day with HOPE!

HOPE’s inaugural 2013 Calendar is out! Spread some love!

Remember Prince, the skeleton dog who did not even know how to sleep lying down?

Sunday, our rescued street dog who ran out of the clinic and was found 12 days later?

Babu Boy, our hero who survived distemper and a hit and run accident.

Rei, who had slash wounds and deep cuts all over his body and was later renamed Sapporo by his adopter?

Sweet Beano, survived human abuse, chemical burns and distemper. 

George, the street dog who was so hungry he ate stones?

The stories of these dogs and others, including those rescued from breeding farms, will be featured in our 2013 calendar. For just $10/- you could save many dogs from the hardships and suffering these dogs went through.

Gracing the front cover of the calendar is Harry, a street dog that was chained on a short leash on a 6th floor factory for years. We saved and rehomed him, and for six months, before he passed on from cancer, he got to experience the warmth of human kindness and love. Harry was the reason HOPE started and it is our quest to be able to give HOPE to other dogs like him.

So please support us and join us in our venture by purchasing our HOPE 2013 calendars!

For just S$10/- per calendar, you can buy a whole lot of kindness!

1. Help with our vet bills for our rescued dogs. Vet bills inadvertently go up for dogs that require long term medical care such as old dogs and dogs with skin issues, heartworm and tick fever. Not a day goes by without us worrying about bills.
2. Put up dogs which we are unable to find a foster for at boarding kennels. As we do not have our own shelter, we pay a commercial rate to rent space at these kennels.
3. Provide food for the street and factory dogs which often live in filthy conditions and get so desperate they would even eat rubbish and stones.
4. Provide food to low income and senior citizens for their dogs.
5. Help with vet bills for low income dog-owners who love their dogs but cannot afford to take their dogs to the vet.
6. Support our Spay it Forward program, our more humane way of curbing the stray population.
7. Allow us to continue our journey in saving our furry friends, rebuild their trust in humans and try to protect more animals against unnecessary suffering.
8. Have a meaningful Christmas when you buy our calendars to give it to your friends.
9. Buy our calendars simply because you love dogs.
10. The next time you see us blogging about yet another rescued dog, you know we wouldn’t have done it without you! 

Furthermore, for orders of 10 and above you get free delivery!

To buy our calendars, please download and print the order form. Then mail out the form along with your cheque (payable to "Hope Dog Rescue") to:

Whiteclip / HOPE Dog Rescue

28 Maxwell Road

Red Dot Traffic Building

#03-11

Singapore 069120

Alternatively, you may email fiona@hopedogrescue.org and make a fund transfer.

If you wish to save on postage fees, you may purchase our calendars from these places:

Bark & Bubbles Pet Grooming Studio
37 Jalan Rumah Tinggi, Singapore 150037
Contact: 6474 3115

Big O Café & Restaurant
Wheelock Place, 501 Orchard Road, #02-04/05, Orchard, 238880
Contact: 67378472
 
CakeWalk
Blk 63B Lengkok Bahru #01-362, Singapore 152063
Contact: 6472 1107

Cecilia Westberry Beauty Spa
Blk 6 Holland Close #01-20, Singapore 271006
Contact: 6774 0449

Cinq Studio @ Scotts Square
6 Scotts Road #03-16 Singapore 228209
Contact: 6636 0100

Colbar (dog-friendly cafe!)
9A Whitchurch Road, Singapore 138839 
Contact: 6779 4859

Dog Haven
5 Jasmine Rd, Singapore 576580
Contact: 6100 9663

Doggiestyle Cafe
23 Serangoon Central, NEX #04R-72, Singapore 556083
Contact: 6648 5485

Drips Bakery Cafe
82 Tiong Poh Road, #01-05, Singapore 160082
Contact: 6222 0400

House for Pets
5 Stagmont Ring, Singapore 688241
Contact: 6367 1753

Joie The Makeup Bar
119A East Coast Road, Singapore 428806
Contact: 9385 7769

Juz Purrfect
9 One-North Gateway #01-46, One North Residence, Singapore 138643
Contact: 8418 0486

Kool Pawz (HOPE shirts and car decals also available here!)
Blk 2, Everton Park, 01-57, Singapore 081002
Contact: 6223 8309 / 96894307

Mount Pleasant Animal Medical Centre (Bedok)
Blk 158 Bedok South Ave 3, Singapore 460158
Contact: 6444 3561

Mount Pleasant Animal Medical Centre (Redhill)
Blk 113 Bukit Merah View #01-520, Singapore 150113
Contact: 6271 1132

Mount Pleasant Veterinary Centre (MPVC)
232 Whitley Road, Singapore 297824
Contact:  6251 7666
** Note: MPVC is moving soon, do call/check their website for updates!

Owls Brew
146 Mackenzie Road, Singapore 228723
Contact: 6333 3440

Paradise Pet Shop
232 Whitley Road (Mount Pleasant Veterinary Centre), Singapore City 297824
Contact: 62565525 / 62562500

Pet HQ
221 Boonlay Place, #02-112 Boonlay Shopping Centre, Singapore 640221
Contact: 6463 9177

Pets Instinct
34 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, #01-866, Singapore 160034
Contact: 6274 0226

Polypets
109 Clementi St 11 #01-27/29, Singapore 120109
Contact: 6779 5309

Scent Discovery
221 Balestier Rd, Singapore 329928
Contact: 6256 5288

Songbitz
Holland Road Shopping Centre #03-03, 211 Holland Avenue, Singapore 278967
Contact: 64661229 (Wenna Song)

The Pet Doctors
3 Pandan Valley, Pandan Valley Condominium, 1-311 Chempaka Blk, Singapore 597627
Contact: 6438 7779

Town Vets Animal Clinic
22 Havelock Road #01-687, Singapore 160022
Contact: 6276 7026

Whiteclip
Red Dot Traffic Building, 28 Maxwell Road, Unit 03-11, Singapore 069120
Contact: 90477225 (by appointment only)

Yvonne's Creative Bridal & Photo Studio
75 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088496
Contact: 6327 8331 / 6227 8830

Last but not least, if you know of any shops, offices, vets, cafes or any others that would help sell our calendars, please do let us know too! That would be awesome!

Thank you from HOPE Dog Rescue.

Medical Aid For A Factory Dog

Behind those eyes and wagging tail is a story of hope.

Mookie, a factory dog, is estimated to be about 8 to 10 years old. He used to live on the streets as a stray but two years ago decided to move into a factory because there was better food, more regular meals and perhaps, he preferred the living environment. An elderly security guard would cook rice daily, mixing it with kibbles that volunteers do sometimes supply him with, to feed the animals living in his compound, even though he does not earn much. Currently, there are a total of 14 cats and 3 dogs living in that compound, including Mookie. 

Mookie's extremely swollen ear, caused by a burst blood vessel

Mookie's loss of fur caused by the infestation of fleas as he lives with 14 cats

Street animals very seldom live past mid-age. Even this age is considered relatively old for a stray. Often, they are killed as puppies when they learn to walk and to wander out in search of food, or they get killed in traffic accidents or construction site accidents. Living on the street, strays are exposed to the constant risk of accidents, illness, starvation and abuse. We know that strays come in all sizes, breed mixes, ages and colors; some with 4 legs, some with less; many injured and ill, but they all share common characteristics: they are homeless, they need our help and they all deserve loving homes.

Like all street animals, Mookie has had a hard life. Mookie looks older than he actually is. He hardly has any fur left, partly from old age, as well as from being bitten by fleas, as he lives on a compound with many cats. His right eye is shrunken and he has lost vision in that eye. This makes it extremely dangerous for Mookie living on the streets as his vision is limited and he might not be able to see approaching traffic. Apart from this “handicap”, Mookie’s hind legs are weak and arthritic. His legs tremble even as he stands to eat or be patted.

Mookie's hind legs tremble badly

About a month ago, volunteers from another animal welfare group had taken him to the vet as they noticed that Mookie had a hematoma in his left ear. We would like to thank them for their kindness and care for him. 

Mookie with his very swollen ear, caused by a hematoma

Often, we feel sorry for these street animals because we feel that they have to “sacrifice” themselves in order for us to notice them, for us to save and care for them. Had Mookie not been unwell, we would have just patted him, fed him and gone on with our regular feeding rounds. We would not have spent more than a few minutes with him or given him the love and attention that he has been waiting for all his life.

This time round, while we were trying to catch a sick stray dog across the street from where Mookie lives, we noticed that Mookie's ear was looking terribly swollen again. The reason why his hematoma was back again is that he has an ear infection, causing him to vigorously shake his head and thus bursting a blood vessel in the process, causing an accumulation of blood in his ear. This is the third time in a span of one and a half months that Mookie has a hematoma. 

Normally, if a hematoma is left untreated, the dog's ear would eventually burst, causing an open wound. It is unlikely that Mookie will bleed to death, but without medical aid, his open wound would be prone to another ear infection, maggot infestation or other complications that may result in the loss of his hearing or even his entire ear. Not to mention the pain and discomfort he would have to endure. 

Mookie's old eyes plead with us to help him. His right eye is shrunken and he no longer sees from that eye.

We quickly arranged for a pet transport to take Mookie to the vet the following day. However, when they got there, Mookie was nowhere to be found. It was a wasted trip for the pet transport, who kindly waived their charges.

That night, volunteers made a special trip down to the factory to look for the security uncle to inform him to wait with Mookie for the pet transport to arrive the following day.

The next day, Mookie arrived at the vet and Dr Teo JW said that the condition of his ear was really bad and an aspiration (process of draining fluids from an infected area using a syringe) alone would not solve the issue. He would need a minor surgery under general anaesthesia to avoid the reoccurrence of the hematoma in his ear and also addressing his inner ear infection. We agreed for Mookie to proceed with the ear surgery scheduled for the following day, and be warded for the night. However, after taking a blood sample to ensure that he was fit for the surgery, it turned out that Mookie’s blood results were bad and the surgery had to be postponed. Poor old Mookie had tick fever, heartworm as well as anaemia, on top of having a hematoma in his left ear and vision only in his right eye! Such is the sad life of a factory dog, and Mookie is actually considered quite fortunate to have a security guard care - bathing, feeding and medicating him. We couldn’t but help compare him to Harry. Who is in a worse off situation?

Since the surgery had to be postponed due to his poor health, only an aspiration on his ear was done. The pet transport then took Mookie back to his factory the following day.

That same night, HOPE volunteers went to Mookie's factory again to bring cooked liver and rice for him, to build him up. He was still a little drowsy from his sedation when the aspiration was done, but his ear was at least 60% less swollen. Mookie did not really have an appetite for his food; he just lay on the cold hard pavement, enjoying pats from the volunteers. The volunteers explained the ear medications to the security uncle, who was so glad to have Mookie returned safely to him.

We would like to thank the family who came to Mookie's rescue and helped with his vet bill for his first treatment.

However, a week later, Mookie’s ears started swelling again and this time, it happened in a very short span of time, for the third time! Poor Mooks. Volunteers had to take him to the vet yet again to have the blood and fluids drained from his swollen ear. Through it all, Mookie has been very cooperative, occasionally whining and crying when his ear was cut with a blade, with blood and pus being squeezed out from it. He was a tough old dog.

Squeezing blood and pus out from Mookie's ear

Pus coming out from Mookie's ear as it was quite badly infected

Sweet old Mooks enduring the painful procedure

Getting his head bandaged

Looking like a sweet Christmas present and smiling despite the pain

His ear was still bleeding as he left the clinic for the boarding kennels

Again, we were reminded by the vets that this procedure was just a temporary solution and that what Mookie really needed was a surgery on his ear and to cure his underlying ear infection. However, this can’t be carried out at this present moment as Mookie is too weak and unwell; we might lose him on the operating table and we definitely don’t want to take that risk.

This time, however, after the procedure on his ear, we decided to board him at boarding kennels for a week or two. Volunteers would work out shifts to visit him twice a day; to clean his ears, change his dressing and medicate him, in the hope that his inner ear problem would heal completely and the hematoma not occur again as it is too painful a process for poor old Mooks to endure every other week.

Mookie has been at the boarding kennels for the past few days, crying and whining the first two days, wanting to go back to his factory. He refused the dog food that volunteers bought for him and feeling sorry for him, they decided to spoil him with chicken rice, liver and eggs daily – which Mookie wolfed down in a flash!

Mookie on the way to the boarding kennels to recuperate for two weeks

Doesn't this face show how much faith he has in humans?

Mookie having a good rest at the boarding kennels

Mookie's bowl of rice, potatoes and chicken, lovingly prepared by Lisa

Our volunteers will continue to take time off from work to go down to the boarding kennels twice daily to medicate and change his dressing, as well as to feed him. His wound seems to have dried up and he is shaking his head less. As soon as his inner ear infection is cleared, volunteers will arrange to take Mookie back to the factory and will continue to visit him frequently to ensure he is happy and well. We don’t want his hematoma to recur as the process is painful and costly We are hoping his inner ear infection would be rid once and for all and Mookie would not have to proceed with the ear surgery.

Volunteers also want to try their best to ensure that Mookie’s other good eye is taken care of so he does not lose his remaining eye. They will check on him twice weekly, cleaning and applying eye drops for him.

If you would like to help Mookie with the following, please email Fiona at pops_snaps@singnet.com.sg

1. Vet bill for 2nd ear aspiration $492/- (stayed overnight at vet)
2. Vet bill for 3rd ear aspiration $329/-
3. Pet transport $110 (Paid by Rosalind L, thank you!)
4. Boarding + dog food  $315/- (estimated, based on boarding of 2 weeks) 

As animal welfare volunteers, we cross paths with old dogs who desperately need our help. Why are we so passionate about giving aid to senior street dogs? It gives us a warm fuzzy feeling inside to know that we have given an elderly stray dog a few more years worth living. All dogs are equally special and close to our heart, regardless of whether they are pets or mere strays. They deserve to be cherished and helped.  We believe that it's worth our time and worth the fight.

As long as there are dogs just like Mookie out there, our work will continue, bringing them the light of Hope they all truly deserve.

We would like to thank our volunteers Lisa, Mandy, Jamie, Susan and Jo-Ann for caring for and loving Mooks.   

Photographs courtesy of Jamie, Lisa and Jo-Ann. Written by Jo-Ann.