Sandy & Hugo (owner surrender)

Every rescue has a story.

Some begin on the streets. Some come from breeding farms. Others begin with a knock on our door and a family making one of the hardest decisions they will ever have to.

At HOPE Dog Rescue, we take in many owner-surrendered dogs. Every case is different, but our hearts are often drawn to the old, the sick, and the forgotten. The dogs who have spent years giving unconditional love, only to find themselves needing someone to love them back.

This week, we welcomed two such dogs into our care.

This dog, looking like a lion, was surrendered to us

That’s her “brother” - he wore diapers / male wrap 24/7 till his fur colour changed

Meet Hugo, a 12-year-old Schnoodle, and Sandy, a tiny Poodle we assumed was his older companion.

Imagine our surprise when we learnt that Sandy is only three years old.

Three.

Years.

Her worn appearance, fragile skin and tired expression made us believe she was a senior dog. Instead, she is a young dog whose body has simply endured far more than it should have.

As with all HOPE rescues, both dogs were brought straight to the vet for a full assessment.

Hugo was so unkempt that the nurses had to help groom him

Sandy. Only 3 yrs old. But looks like a senior dog

Hugo

Hugo weighs just 8.2kg, around 2kg underweight for his frame.

He has poor muscle condition, Grade 2 luxating patella in both hind legs, a severe ear infection with a strong odor, extensive skin disease from his neck down his body, multiple skin sores, and painful raw skin around his penis from wearing nappies around the clock.

Infected and sore penis from wearing male wrap 24/7

Hugo has skin infection on most of his body

Hugo also has an ear infection

Flaky skin

His teeth are in an extremely poor state. The green nasal discharge and sneezing he's been experiencing may even be linked to advanced dental disease.

Inflamed gums and bad teeth. Needs dental asap

For now, Hugo has gone home with medicated shampoo, antibiotics for his ears, and strict instructions for regular medicated baths while his skin heals. He will also require an ultrasound, dental treatment and sterilization before he's ready to find a forever home.

But despite everything, Hugo has remained exactly what everyone hopes for in a rescue dog.

Sweet, Gentle and Calm.

Sandy

Then there's Sandy.

At only 6.2kg, she needs to gain weight, but her biggest challenge is her skin.

Feeling lost & confused

Large areas of her body are almost completely hairless, inflamed and uncomfortable. According to her previous medical history, she had been receiving Cytopoint injections, although they don't appear to have adequately controlled her condition. A stronger dose has now been given, and once she has settled into foster care, we'll be reviewing her diet and investigating possible underlying causes.

Raw, inflamed skin

She also suffers from dry eyes and a painful ear infection that now requires treatment.

Yet beneath all of that is a young dog who is sweet, slightly anxious, and still wants to play.

Perhaps that's what amazes us most.

There is HOPE. Sandy will be happy again.

Dogs don't dwell on yesterday.

Give them kindness today, and they'll often choose to believe tomorrow will be better.

Both Hugo and Sandy will return for a review in three weeks' time, and we're hopeful this is just the beginning of a much brighter chapter.

Sometimes, surrendering a dog is the most heartbreaking decision an owner can make.

And sometimes, it is also the kindest.

Because if Sandy had remained where she was, she may have faced years more of untreated discomfort. Instead, at just three years old, she now has something every dog deserves.

A chance.

A chance to heal.

A chance to be comfortable.

A chance to be loved.

Their combined veterinary bill comes to $1612/- and there is still more treatment ahead.

If you would like to help Hugo and Sandy on their journey to recovery, please email us at hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.

Pixie (puppy mill survivor)

Meet Pixie, a female Cavapoo – Our Newest Rescue ❤️

Sweet Pixie

At the vet, slightly on the tubby side

Before her rescue, Pixie didn't even have a name. She was known only by a microchip number.

Imagine going through life without a true sense of identity—valued mainly for the ability to produce puppies. Yet Pixie, like all of us, can feel discomfort, uncertainty, and loneliness, and deserves kindness, care, and love.

As with all our rescues, we do our best to give them the care they deserve after years of being failed by humans. Pixie went straight to the vet for a full health assessment including blood tests which were thankfully clear. She has also been booked for abdominal and cardiac ultrasounds.

Pixie is estimated to be 8 years old, weighing in at 7.1kg. She is slightly overweight, with weak joints and hind legs causing her to slip while walking. Many breeding dogs are fed large amounts of rice while being confined to a cage, standing on metal grilles, with no walks, exercise, or sunshine. Hence, they are often not in the best physical condition.

Her teeth are not severely rotten, but she will require a dental cleaning and hopefully only minimal extractions.

Pixie will require dental cleaning and some extractions

She has an ear infection and has been prescribed antibiotic ear drops. Her vulva is slightly swollen, suggesting a recent heat cycle. The breeder mentioned that she was sterilized two years ago, However, this seems unusual, as breeding dogs are often given up once they are no longer needed for breeding. Nonetheless, an abdomen scan has been arranged to confirm. 

Infected ears

A swollen vulva - an ultrasound has been booked

We are seeking support for:

1. Her initial veterinary bill: $789
2. A foster home
3. An adoptive family

If you can help this sweet girl begin her new chapter, please contact us at hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.

Pixie has spent six years giving everything she had. It's finally her turn to be loved.

Haru the Schnauzer (new rescue)

Meet Haru – our newest rescue.

Haru is a 6-year-old female Schnauzer who was recently surrendered to our care. While she is still relatively young, her body condition was like that of a much older dog that even the vet was shocked.

Dogs are really loyal, even when their families let them down 

At just 4.75kg, Haru is more than 1kg underweight and her ribs can be easily felt. The vet has advised us to gradually increase her food intake to four meals a day and include some healthy carbohydrates to help her gain weight safely.

6 years old and only four canines left

Has a lump on her abdomen

As with all new rescues, Haru underwent a full medical examination.

The good news - blood tests came back normal.

Poor Haru, so neglected that she actually looked much older than she really is

However, several concerns were discovered:

* A chest X-ray revealed enlargement on one side of her heart. While no heart murmur was detected, we will be arranging a heart and abdominal scan as soon as possible.

* Poor Haru has only 4 teeth remaining. The rest had previously been extracted, likely due to years of poor dental care.

* Her eyelids are extremely dry and she has been prescribed medication.

* Her front paws are very itchy and inflamed, requiring treatment.

* She is suffering from an ear infection and has started medication.

* A lump was found on her abdomen. As Haru is not sterilised, this is particularly concerning due to the risk of mammary tumours.

Vet check showed she has dry eye lids - meds was prescribed

Our volunteers also noticed blood droplets in her diaper during the car ride from the clinic to her foster home, and further examination suggests she has been living with a long-term urinary tract infection. We do not know how long she has been suffering from this condition, but it is heartbreaking to think it may have gone unnoticed for quite some time.

Haru is also the first Schnauzer we have rescued with cropped ears. Ear cropping is a practice we strongly oppose, but that is a discussion for another day. Right now, our focus is on helping Haru heal and giving her the care she deserves.

Despite everything she has been through, Haru remains gentle and cooperative. She has a long road ahead of her, but she is finally safe.

Haru's veterinary bill currently stands at $1,000.25, with additional scans and treatment still to come.

Please contact us at hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg if you would like to help Haru in the following ways.

1) Help with her vet bill

2) Adopt her

3) Foster her 

Thank you.

Ariel Has Pyometra (which is life threatening)

Over the last 3 weeks, poor Ariel has been going to the vet, a total of 7 times, one of which was an emergency hospital visit on a public holiday. 

Read her backstory 

It all started with her being in heat few days before Labour Day, followed by inappetence and lethargy, where she did not eat or drink for 15 days. As mentioned previously, she was not sterilised due to her heart condition which made any GA high risk for her. During these 15 days, she was bleeding quite a bit and also had fever on and off. Coupled with her many other health conditions, the bleeding started taking a toll on her body. She was constantly lethargic and some days she would be in such deep sleep that we had trouble waking her. As this was not normal, she was rushed and scanned for pyometra (infection of the uterus, common in unsterilised female dogs).

Ariel had 3 scans in 3 weeks and we saw 3 different vet clinics because we wanted another opinion and ensure we didn’t miss out on something that was causing her to be so unwell. The vets all concluded that it was just her being lethargic although they agreed her bleeding was quite long and abnormal; it lasted 26 days! In most female dogs, it usually lasts for about 3 weeks. Poor Ariel, her body was sore and tired, her vulva and nipples were swollen. She has been relying on subcutaneous fluids and syringe feeding to keep her going.  In fact, she’s lost so much weight, one could feel her ribs.

Ariel at the vet, waiting for her results 

 

A few days ago, Ariel was at her worst; she was so lethargic, she could not even keep her one eye open. She had so much trouble staying awake, she was rushed to the vet yet again for yet another ultrasound. And this time – our biggest nightmare came true. Ariel had pyometra and it was life threatening.

 

The black spot is pus in her uterus 

Fortunately Ariel has a very experienced foster who picked up the signs in the early stages. Any further delay and we would have lost Ariel.

The scan showed a 0.7 cm black spot in her stomach, which is the pus in her uterus. Pyometra is a serious uterus infection, affecting unsterilised female dogs. It develops when bacteria infects the uterus and if left untreated, can be fatal within days. It would have been very dire had it been a closed pyometra where the infection and pus is all trapped inside a closed cervix. In the case of a closed pyometra, the distended uterus can rupture and become fatal.

Thankfully, hers was an open pyometra whereby the open cervix allows for any pus to drain through. Since she cannot be under GA, she has been put on a course of very strong antibiotics to treat her infection. Her foster will need to diligently feed her oral meds, give her subcutaneous fluids and injections throughout the day and monitor her closely and update the clinic.

We pray that she pulls through because we are not ready to lose this sweetheart, whom we rescued in Oct 2025. Ariel loves her walks in the parks and we have told her that there are many more parks she has yet to explore.

To date, her vet bills have come up to $2,526 and she is due for yet another review.

More updates on her condition will be provided progressively.

Casey (Owner Surrender)

HOPE takes in quite a number of owner surrender cases and in most, we are relieved that they chose that option, rather than just abandoning them on the streets, or like in Butter’s case, anyhow rehome. However, with Casey, we feel really sad for her.

Her papa loved her a lot but he was very sick. His daughter, Ms S, wrote in to ask if we could take in their dog. Her dad was unwell and after chemo, he was often too lethargic to walk or even care for her. With their medical costs, they also could not afford to take her to the vet. So, because they love her so much, they made the difficult decision to give her up for her wellbeing. 

Scared & confused at the vet

Casey is an 11-year old, female maltese terrier. She has a bad dental condition and a huge growth in her left ear which is blocking her entire ear canal. The family tells us it has been there for 6 months.

Huge ear mass blocking her entire ear canal

We agreed to take Casey into our care.

As is our standard procedure, she was taken straight to the vet for a full medical checkup as many rescues have had their health neglected.

Bad teeth

Receding gums 

Casey's blood results are good which makes her a suitable candidate for a dental and an ear mass removal. Her right ear has a mild yeast infection, for which ear meds were dispensed to treat. The vet suggested two options for the mass in her left ear. We could do a fine needle aspirate (FNA), where a needle is inserted into the mass to extract some cells to be sent for further testing to determine if the mass is cancerous. The second option is to do an excisional biopsy, where we remove the entire growth and send it to the lab for biopsy. 

Poor Casey, we hope she feels better soon 

Like all our rescues, Casey is really sweet, but she is a little fearful around other dogs, having been an only dog all her life. We have decided with the second option to remove the mass in her ear entirely so we will book that surgery for her, and dental as well. We will check with the vet if the 2 procedures can be done at the same time. Casey is also not sterilized and that may need to be done at a later date. 

She is also on wait list for a bi-cavity scan to ensure she is healthy before she undergoes the surgical procedure. 

Casey is presently with a fosterer and is settling down well. After her procedures, she will be ready to find her new forever home. 

Her initial vet bill was $613. If you would like to help Casey, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.

Butter in a Box

 Living in a box this Lunar New Year was not something this sweet senior dog ever imagined would happen to her. 

Butter was found living in a box along a HDB corridor

 Amanda contacted HOPE to inform us of an old dog living in a box outside a HDB unit and asked if we could help.

The dog had previously belonged to a couple who had divorced and the husband went on Telegram to give away their dogs. This one, whom we have named Butter, was given to a young 13-year-old boy who felt sorry for the dog and took it home.

Unfortunately, the boy's parents were not agreeable to keep the dog so he had no choice but to leave the dog outside his unit in a box. A neighbour saw the dog and was saddened by its living conditions. The neighbour and some friends kindly offered to take Butter to the vet and tried to help the boy care for Butter by providing items like kibbles. They soon realized that, however good his intentions were, the boy would not be able to care for the dog. So, they contacted HOPE.

She had a huge growth on her right hind leg and the darkened brown fur suggested that she had been wearing soaked diapers for a long time.

Volunteers went down at close to midnight to pick up the dog as the neighbours and friends had been waiting at the void deck for almost the entire day, as no one could take the dog home for the night. The volunteers then brought the dog to a temporary fosterer’s home at the opposite end of Singapore. By that time, it was almost 2am.

Volunteers, Jimmy (pictured) and Wendy, had rushed down to help Butter as the group had been hanging around the void deck for most of the day with nowhere to go

Such a sweet little doggy :-(

The next morning, the volunteers brought Butter to the vet. The vet estimated Butter to be 10  to 12 years old. Butter is very sweet and friendly, and extremely food motivated (aka always hungry). There is a growth on her chest and a larger one dangling from her right hind leg. Like many neglected dogs, she has terrible teeth with pus and discharge oozing from her nose, and would require dental asap. One eye has little or no vision. She is not sterilized but we may not push for sterilization at this time given she is already a senior dog.

Missing teeth

Needs dental soon

Little or no vision in her left eye

Lump on her chest

Growth on right hind leg

We have arranged for a heart and abdomen scan in 2 weeks. Once given the all clear, we will schedule her dental and then sweet Butter will be ready for her forever home.

Her current bill stands at $806 and will likely incur more as we send her for the various scans, tests and procedures. If you can help with sweet Butter's vet bills, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.

BB Girl’s 2025 Summary - The Year Her Life Changed Forever

It’s hard to believe that just three months ago, BB Girl was wandering the streets as a sick stray. Weak, frightened, and carrying a huge tumor on her neck that made every step painful, she had no one to turn to. Living under a lorry and growing weaker by the day, her body was slowly failing her.

Watch her video here.

But everything changed the day she was rescued. A regular feeder in the area noticed her deteriorating state and called for help. BB Girl was immediately warded at the vet, where doctors discovered that the large tumor on her neck was filled with pus. It had to be drained daily to ease her suffering, while she was also started on heart medication and antibiotics. Her prognosis was grim — her face was severely swollen, she had no appetite, was lethargic, and her red blood count was dropping. She was not expected to survive the next few days. Yet, volunteers rallied around her, cooking special meals for her and spending time by her side at the clinic. Surrounded by love, care, and medical support, BB Girl refused to give up — and day by day, she grew stronger.

After she was discharged, BB Girl continued weekly vet visits where the pus in her tumor was drained, and each time the swelling reduced a little more. The vets then began stem cell treatment to help shrink the mass further. Through it all, BB Girl remained sweet, gentle and accepting of the help from humans whom she had never known as a stray.

From those fragile first days, she has come so far. In foster care, she has found safety, comfort, and love. She enjoys her daily walks, yummy home-cooked meals and lots of cuddles. Today, BB Girl is no longer the sick stray she once was. She is brighter, stronger, and happier — wagging her tail, soaking up affection, and discovering what it means to feel safe.
Soon, we will need to decide whether surgery is the best option to remove her tumor mass, or if she can continue as she is.

Her journey is far from over, but the transformation she has made in just three months is nothing short of remarkable. And it’s all thanks to your support and contributions — you gave BB Girl the chance to fight, and she has seized it with all her heart.

BB Girl’s story.