Polka Dog Updates (The Lucky Dog)

After weeks of search for a fosterer for Polka, we came back with disappointing responses. At first, we received a call from a lady, who was interested in fostering Polka. But after visiting him at the vet and bringing him for 2 rounds of walks, she decided that Polka was too big in size for her. We also received numerous messages from people who were interested to foster Polka, as they felt sorry for him, but backed out in the last minute due to various reasons.

 

It was evident that he could not adapt to being confined in the cage, which was so small that when he stands on all four legs, his head will touch the top of the cage. He would bark insistently to be brought out of the cage, and each time he barks, his head will bump onto the top of the cage, which resulted in a bruise on his head.

The bruise on Polka's head

 

With a heavy heart, we were brought to our last resort, which was to bring Polka back to where we found him (the workshop at the industrial park). It isn’t the best option but all we could do was to check with the people there if they could help us to look out for Polka, as well as to pass them food and other items to make sure that Polka would be well taken care of.

Much as we hated to release him back to the streets, we knew that we could not have Polka boarding in the vet forever, where he was kept in a small cage. After all, he had been a stray dog all of his life – he had been conditioned to a life where he was able to roam around freely, and to have him confined to a small cage was definitely something he wasn’t going to get used to.



Polka and Ah Girl at were at the vet together

After three weeks in the vet, we decided that it was time for us to release Polka back to where we found him. Fiona arranged for a pet transport to have Polka brought back to the workshop, and I had already called the vet to inform them that we would like to have Polka discharged from the vet the very next day. That night, I could not stop thinking about Polka – what the future holds for him and how will his remaining days will be like. I could not help but feel sad that we could not do more for Polka, and on the other hand, there are many other dogs out there suffering the same fate, or much worse.

Early next day, I went to the vet to pick Polka up and arranged for his discharge before the pet transport came. I brought Polka out of the vet and we sat at the car park while waiting for the pet transport to arrive. I could see that Polka was excited – he was expecting me to bring him for a walk around the vet, which I normally do. But soon, he realized that we were not going for his walk around the vet, and he started to howl and whimper. It was a heart-breaking sight. Soon, the pet transport arrived and after bringing Polka up to the van, we were off to the workshop.



Polka waiting to be discharged

 

As I drove my car behind the pet transport van, I could see that Polka was excited to go on a car-ride, as he was prancing back and forth inside the van. For a while, he even sat at the front seat of the van – he was clearly enjoying his ride back! As we were nearing our destination, it was evident that Polka knew where he was going. He was getting more and more excited, and started barking when we turned in to the industrial park.
 

Upon reaching, we brought Polka out of the van. It was not difficult to bring him out of it; he happily jumped out of the van without our assistance. As we brought him around the area we found him, all of a sudden, we heard someone saying in Mandarin “isn’t that Lucky? His owner has been looking for him!” and he was pointing to the workshop unit next to his.

 

I was truly taken by surprise – little did I know that Polka had an owner all along! Then I brought Polka over to the next unit, and his owner who introduced himself as Uncle Soon, was just as surprised to see Polka. He came over to us, beaming from ear to ear. He said that he could not believe that he will be able to see Lucky Polka again, as he thought that he had went somewhere faraway to go off quietly. It was obvious that Lucky Polka was as excited to see his owner again, as much as Uncle Soon. It was a happy reunion!



Uncle Soon and Lucky Polka finally reunited after 3 weeks!

 



Look at the love in his eyes

Uncle Soon shared that he has been taking care of Lucky Polka since he was a little puppy, and it has been 15 years since then. He even showed me a photo of Lucky Polka from his younger days. I updated him on the events that happened over the last few weeks with Lucky Polka, and also broke the news to him about Polka’s health (his heartworm condition, cancerous masses found in his chest and stomach). Uncle Soon said that he has taken care of Lucky Polka for the last few years, and he will continue to take care of him until his final day here on Earth.



A photograph of Lucky Polka from his younger days, pasted  on a wall in Uncle Soon's workshop

Before I left, I passed Lucky Polka’s medication to Uncle Soon, and explained to him on how frequent he should feed them to him. As he does not know how to read English, he told me to explain to him while he writes it down in Mandarin. With this, I knew that Lucky Polka is under good hands.

 

The following week, I went to visit Polka and Uncle Soon. It was a humid day, and Lucky Polka was lying down on the concrete floor to cool off. Upon seeing me, Lucky Polka stood up and started to smell my hand. He could recognize me! And he couldn’t look any better – he was looking so much happier! Apart from that, he seems to have gained weight as well. Uncle Soon says that he has been eating well, and have been taking his medication on time as well.

 



Lucky Polka, 1 week after being reunited with Uncle Soon

 

Like they always say, every cloud has a silver lining. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that Lucky Polka did not find a fosterer or adopter. If not, he would never be reunited with Uncle Soon. Lucky Polka is indeed, a lucky dog. I do wish that all the dogs out there will be as lucky and blessed as Lucky Polka.

 

I would like to thank Fiona and HOPE Dog Rescue for their guidance on my first dog rescue, and may there be more to come!

Written by Denise Lim. Photographs courtesy of Joceline Loo and Denise Lim

Ben & Jerry

We were at Seletar Country Club for a different reason. We had received reports of two dachshunds that had been reportedly abandoned at the beach nearby. They were supposedly spotted at some fish shack off an uncompleted road. After driving around the area for nearly two hours based on very vague descriptions given to us by various sources, we finally found the spot. However it was during this drive that fate that led us to Ben and Jerry.

From the main road, we saw this little injured puppy inside the construction site (we named him Jerry)

We drove past a filthy, dusty construction site and saw two small dogs on the dirt track. From afar, they looked like the dachshunds we were looking for so we turned back and entered the site. However when we got near, we realized that they were local breed, 1-month-old puppies; two brothers, black and one cream.

Spot the tiny puppy

Only as big as a shoe (big brother Ben)

Workers from the construction site were standing around looking at the two puppies so I asked them if they knew where the puppies came from, or if they knew where the puppies’ mommy was. One of the workers said that someone had taken these two puppies from Seletar Country Club and brought them over, thus separating them from their mommy.

Little Jerry. Had we not saved him, he would have died from an infection or septic shock

While talking I noticed that the cream puppy had a broken tail, hanging at a strange angle. I asked the worker if he knew what happened but he didn’t. Instead he asked if the tail could be cut off! This was something only a vet could determine so we decided to take it to one. We took down the worker’s details, promising to return the following day to pick the puppies up to see the vet. As we left, I looked at the dismal conditions around us; the site was extremely dirty, dangerous and dusty. There was a little broken down doghouse that the worker tried to keep the dogs in but they didn’t want to stay in it, for obvious reasons. It was terribly small, left out in the open under the hot sun. When it rained, there was no proper shelter so the rain splashed in. The bowls of water they left for the dog was filled with red ants. The worker was angry that the puppies did not want to stay in the small house. It was saddening to find humans who did not understand dogs at all.

The workers expected the puppies to live there alone!

Empty food and water bowls, infested with red ants

We continued our search for the dachshunds and finally found them at the fish shack as described. The uncle living at the fish shack said that someone had previously abandoned 3 dogs there but one went missing, leaving only the two we saw. We took the time to observe the two dogs, which seemed healthy and happy. The uncle actually took pains to take care of them, showing us the dog food he had bought for them. We left, assured that they were cared for by someone.

Imagine these little puppies living alone, without mommy, food or water. (Jerry)

Baby Ben

Young volunteer Sherrie pointed out that the vet was still open and that we could take the puppy with the broken tail in, so we returned to the site where we first found them. The two pups were asleep amidst the debris, so we carried them in towels and rushed to vet.

Gracia taking the puppies to safety

A badly injured and broken tail

 

Our volunteers Sherrie held Jerry, while Gracia carried Ben (black puppy) during our drive to the vet. We decided to take Ben along, as we didn’t want him to miss his brother and wander out to main road looking for him only to be hit by a car. We also thought that we might as well bring him in for a full medical check-up and deworm. Vaccination had to wait, as they were too young for it as it is typically given at 6-8 weeks old. They were barely a month old.

Jerry's broken tail

After checking Jerry’s broken tail, the vet said that it was probably broken a few days before as the wound was very raw. It could possibly have been stuck in something and the skin and tail broke while Jerry tried to break free from being stuck. The vet also said that if we did not amputate the broken tail, the wound might turn septic and worsen. He advised that we did it now while the puppy was fit so that it had a better chance of recovery. We decided to heed the vet’s advice.

Sherrie with Jerry

Gracia with Ben

So the tail amputation was done the next day. The little puppy cried and whined so much – probably in pain, and also missing his mommy and brother by his side. Such a tragedy, to have such harm and pain come to a tiny creature that had only lived on earth for 30 days.

Poor Jerry after his tail amputation

Both puppies are currently being fostered by young volunteer Gracia but we desperately need to get them adopted soon. We don’t have a shelter or the funds to keep them for long, not with the 15 other rescue dogs we are still trying to find homes for. These puppies are too young to be returned to where they were found. They deserve to be placed in a home that can give them the love that they need to grow and thrive.

ADOPT JERRY

ADOPT BEN


If you would like to help, you could do so by dropping us an email if you wish to do one of the following:

1)    Help us with the vet bills incurred by Jerry’s surgery. You may do so by sending a cheque to Hope Dog Rescue.

2)    Adopt Jerry (male, 1 mth old, local cross breed)

3)    Adopt Ben (male, 1 mth old, local cross breed)

Email Fiona@hopedogrescue.org

Photo credits Gracia Ang and Sherrie Tan. Written by Elaine Quek for Fiona Foo

Walk With Me. Farewell To A Brave Girl

Ah Girl was rescued on Feb 7, 2013. When we found her, she was lying in a car park, her stomach bloated with 2 litres of fluids caused by heart failure. We took her to the vet where she stayed for a while, before we transferred her to a friend, who kindly agreed to foster Ah Girl.

Ah Girl when we first found her

Ah Girl stayed with foster Sooh Yee for almost 2 mths, while we visited her every 3 weeks or so to take her to the vet for her regular review as Ah Girl had heart murmur and right side heart failure.

At Sooh Yee’s place, Ah Girl hardly ate. They fed her cooked food, dog food, all kinds of food, but Ah Girl would only eat a few bites and spend the rest of her days sleeping. Ah Girl had lost 8kg in a mere 2 months and now weighed just 8.8kg. She was a bag of bones.

 

 

On April 26, Ah Girl was taken to the vet early in the morning as she was just lying down and not moving much. At the vet, they could not find anything gravely wrong with her that would explain her lack of appetite and severe weight loss. We did an ultrasound, but it revealed nothing. It was not cancer, as Dr Goh had suspected.

However, she was severely dehydrated and Dr Goh asked that we leave her at the hospital for 8 hours to put her on drip and to pick her up in the evening. Dr Goh also recommended that we feed her anything she wanted, just to get her to eat.

Anyone who met Ah Girl would tell you she looked majorly depressed. In all the time I had spent with her, I had never seen her wag her tail.

 

Going home after being on drip all day

 

That night when I picked Ah Girl, I carried her to my van and took her home. I decided I would adopt her, care for her till she became strong again. Little did I know that I would only have 5 days with her, before she left us.

The 5 days that Ah Girl stayed in my home, felt like forever. Not because it was tedious but instead, her presence in my home was comfortable, as if she belonged, as if she was one of my dogs.

 

Other than feeding her for an hour during each meal, she was an easy dog to care for - undemanding, patient, and understanding. Meal times took that long because she refused to eat so I had to force feed her, trying everything from dog food to cooked food to baby food. Finally I discovered she liked bacon treats, so she ate that for her meals most days. Not the best choice, but at least she was eating and she loved it! She drank a lot of water, almost 4 litres a day, perhaps to quell her hunger.

 

Ah Girl's favourite treats!

 

Ah Girl slept in my toilet as she would usually pee twice at night. In the mornings, she would have free roam of the house. She liked sleeping in my room, beside my dogs. They were very nice to her, understanding and respectful of her space and she appreciated that.

 

 

 

Having Ah Girl in my home meant I had to work my schedule around her, changing her pee pads, cleaning up after her, feeding her etc but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed coming home to see her panting and looking at me with the cheeky one eye face! She enjoyed playing on my bed, it must have been her first time on one.

 

 

She loved playing on my bed

 

Look at the cheeky face!

 

She finally smiled when she came to live with me

 

Only 5 days I had with her but boy did I love that little girl. So old and yet so cheeky and stubborn, I can imagine what a fun loving dog she was in her younger days! I would lie beside her and fall asleep next to her. I kissed and smelt her forehead as much as I did my dogs and she enjoyed every minute of it. She loved being kissed and stroked to sleep. She liked hearing me talk to her and she would gaze at me with much content. I told her that she was a strong brave girl and that she could stay with me for as long as she wanted to.

 

Asleep beside me while I worked

 

I thought I heard her say, "Walk with me, I will teach you how to care for an old dog, it’s easy." And so she did teach me.

I told Ah Girl to eat and get stronger so I could take her to the park with my dogs. She liked sitting downstairs at the playground, sun on her, breeze blowing and watching the world go by. Sometimes when she felt strong, she would struggle to pull herself up and walk a few steps. She had severe arthritis as well.

Yesterday was Ah Girl’s final day with me. She spent the day lying next to me and my dogs, while I did my work, smothered with lots of hugs and kisses. I spent the entire day with her till I had to go out for a house check to rehome one of our dogs, Lulu. I am so glad I had that final day with her. That was about 6.30pm and again she had refused her boiled chicken so I left the food beside her and told her I would see her later. That was the last I saw her alive.

 

This was the last time I saw her alive

 

When I got home at 11.30pm I had just bought pork ribs to try feeding her. I patted my dogs and went in to the room to check on her. She was lying in an awkward position and I knew something wasn’t right. I stared at her body, she was no longer panting like she usually did. I knew she was gone.

 

 

I knelt beside her and touched her body, she was still warm. I called out to my mom and my mom said she had checked on Ah Girl just 10 mins before I got home. Her heart must have stopped beating. Why didn’t Ah Girl wait for me to say good bye to her?

I carried her and lay her on a blanket. She looked peaceful. I knew she went happily, contented. Perhaps she finally felt that she had a home and a family and that she was ready to go.

 

Passed away peacefully

 

 

 

Despite being in animal welfare for almost 7 years, I have never fostered such an old dog. Ah Girl was estimated to be about 13 years old. Her tenacity and will to have survived 13 years on the streets - I can’t tell you how strong she is.

She survived many accidents; three broken legs, loss of an eye, and a disfigured ear. Metals plates and screws in one leg, heart murmur and heart failure. I have never met a dog so strong and brave in my entire life.

What a tough, sad life she has had.

Letting Ah Girl go is not easy as it was all too sudden, although the vets did constantly remind us that her heart could stop beating anytime. I had such high hopes for her, I was planning to take her to the beach . . . .

I informed our team and Lynne and Lisa met me at the hospital slightly after midnight last night. They sat and cradled her for more than an hour, till rigor mortis started to set in . . . .we just hadn’t had enough of her.

This morning, we will hold a private cremation for Ah Girl, something she deserves and it will be attended by volunteers who have had the honour and pleasure of meeting her.

I count myself luckiest of the lot, I had 5 days of joy with Ah Girl, 5 days of wonderful memories that I will forever cherish.

 

Beautiful Ah Girl

 

I love you, Ah Girl, you will be dearly missed. Thank you for letting me walk the final journey with you and for the precious lessons you taught me. You’re a brave little girl and I hope to meet you again someday soon, somewhere over the rainbow.

Forever love, Fiona

Farewell brave girl. You will remain in our hearts forever.

 

By Lisa : Who is Ah Girl? One may think she's just another local dog. But she isn't. She was a special dog, 13 years old, with only one eye left after losing one eye to an accident. Life has been difficult for Ah Girl over the last 13 years, and I feel sorry for the hardship she's gone through.
 

I am grateful that Fiona gave Ah Girl a home and I visited Ah Girl there. What I love about Ah Girl is her attitude, that hint of cheekiness and appreciation each time I gently planted kisses on her forehead and muzzle. When I visited her, she actually wagged her tail when she saw me. That was the first time she wagged her tail, no one else has seen it. The image will stay with me forever.

Little did I know it was Ah Girl's final 5 days on Mother Earth. She left us peacefully last night.

This is my maiden experience of a death of a dog and it was not easy to accept her sudden departure. 
 

Thank you Ah Girl for accepting me as a friend. I am glad to have met you and you taught me patience and perseverance in life  -- That if one does not give up, happiness will come. Finally, you can have a place you call home. 

 

Lynne and Ah Girl

 

By Lynne : When I first laid my eyes on Ah Girl, I was struck by how sweet, beautiful, innocent and friendly she was. Unlike other stray dogs that are ever so wary of strangers, Ah Girl wagged her tail when she saw me and allowed me to pat her.  
 

Ah Girl was a dog with enormous love and loyalty. It comforts me to know that the last two and a half months of her life were graced with things that she loved : chicken wings, daily walks, a loving foster (Fiona) who shared with Ah Girl her kisses, her hugs and her bed.
 

Ah Girl has inspired me to live my life to the fullest and to take time to stop and smell the roses. I love her. Always will. And she will always be in my heart! Rest in peace, Ah Girl!".
 

*On behalf of Ah Girl, I would like to thank Fiona and volunteers from HOPE Dog Rescue for giving her a loving home in final journey of her life.

 

A Shameful Story

Our unbecoming society is raising quite a few eyebrows among our animal-loving comrades. If we ran a survey on the number of abandoned dogs in Singapore and the reason they were abandoned, we’d probably be mortified by the results. As it turns out, we are tasked to save yet another pet dog from an irresponsible family. 

If you’ve been married before, or if you have a soft spot for romance films like I do, you’d probably gush over the familiar statement “I’ll be there for you in sickness or in health” reiterated by the lead characters in the show.

This was when we first found her. Dirty, unkempt, exhausted

Have you ever asked yourself whether you would pledge the same to your doggy pals? Or would you turn away when they are in agony? Would you spend your savings treating your dog, or would you rather spend them on material goods?

Imagine the period of neglect for poor Cotton to get to this stage! Almost a year!

Her fur was so badly matted

How did she even manage to walk??

Sadly, abandoning a sick dog is nothing new in today’s society. And Cotton has fallen into this unfortunate category.

Cotton is a Maltese, not a Sheepdog

A lady reported that she saw Cotton wandering aimlessly in the Ang Mo Kio estate. At the time of discovery, Cotton looked extremely disheveled, distraught and exhausted. Her tear-stained face, overgrown fur, and long nails were indications that she had probably been neglected or roaming the streets for a period of time.

Badly matted fur

As with our procedures for lost dogs, we instructed the lady to put up posters around the vicinity and to report the case to the relevant authorities, just in case the owners have already lodged a report about their missing pooch. AVA and SPCA both came back with negative reports – no one seemed to be looking for her.

One night, a man called close to midnight to say that he thinks Cotton could be his dog. According to him, his daughter had been too carried away playing with her friends that she had forgotten to bring Cotton home. By the time they returned to the site where her daughter had left Cotton, she was nowhere to be found. It took him three days before he contacted us.

When we probed further on where his daughter had left Cotton, he replied furtively saying, “Around Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4.” For some strange reason, he refused to disclose the exact location, i.e. the Block Number, which we asked for several times. He then started asking us if we knew Cotton’s microchip number – of course we had her microchip number – and wanted us to recite the number to him. Given that he was acting out of the norm, we refused to reveal Cotton’s microchip number. Instead, we asked him to tell us the number but he said he didn’t have it on hand and would need to check before getting back to us.

He never called again after that.

Five days later, we decided to make a trip down to where cotton was first found in hope to gather some clues on the identity of Cotton’s owner. We found a “Missing Dog” poster with Cotton’s photo on it, and contacted the phone number listed on the poster.

Sweet Cotton, with Hope in her eyes, despite having been abandoned

The lady who answered our call refused to speak with us and frantically brushed us off by asking us to call back later at night after her husband returns home. Her reaction roused our suspicion further as her behavior is unlike any pet owner who is trying to locate a missing pet. How can anyone be so passive, unconcerned and disinterested when someone on the other line is desperately trying to reunite you with your dog?

Exhausted from having roamed the streets for a long time

Undeterred, we called again later in the night but no one answered our call. In fact, the family did not even bother returning any of our calls. This leaves us to wonder why the family would even bother putting up posters around the vicinity when they are obviously disinterested in reuniting with their pet. Were they truly intending to find Cotton or was it just to mask the fact that they have abandoned their dog and they didn’t want to look bad? Did their daughter really forget to bring Cotton home, or did they conveniently throw her out and wanted to check if we had the microchip number for fear that we will report him to the authorities?

I know you may find our deduction pretty crazy or even self-serving but we have dealt with so many senseless excuses, atrocious comments, and appalling behaviors from people that are truly beyond belief. These people have such unparalleled creativity to whip up the “best” stories ever that leaves you to wonder how much time they must have spent to plan each and every move.

Why didn't you want me? Did you know i was very sick with seizures while roaming the streets?

You may ask: “Why are you guys so cynical? Why can’t you people empathize with people?” Sure, everyone has a “reason/excuse” for abandoning a dog whether it is legitimate or not. So where do you draw the line? And how can we not get frustrated when a life is at stake? We are not dealing with stuffed toys.

We managed to find a temporary foster for Cotton. While at the foster’s, Cotton had seizures on a daily basis with each episode lasting more than a minute. It pains us to see her undergo so much suffering at such a young age. Cotton is barely two years old. How can a family abandon an ill pet when they need them the most? Long term seizures if left untreated will result in permanent brain damage! What if she had a seizure while crossing the road?

We took Cotton to see a senior vet. The vet ran a blood test and did an x-ray on Cotton but could not nail down the actual cause of the seizures. In general, seizures can either be due to genetics or a growth in the brain. The only way to find out if she has a growth in the brain is to undergo a CT scan, which would cost around $2,500. We don’t have the finances for that at the moment, so we settled for medication instead.

At the vet

The good news is that the seizures seemed to be under control after medication, and Cotton has not had a recurrence in two weeks.

Pretty Cotton as she looks today

Cotton loves outings and car rides

It is so heartwarming to see Cotton finally able to lead a normal life, and to enjoy every moment at home with her fosters and their dogs. However, Cotton is in need of a new foster or a permanent home. The current fosters are unable to keep Cotton any longer because HDB is knocking on their doors on an almost daily basis. With HDB’s latest visit, Cotton needs to be out of the foster home in 3 days’ time. Cotton cannot possibly live in the kennels or pet shop as she needs to be fed medication regularly.

If you would like to foster or adopt Cotton or help with Cotton’s vet bills, please email Fiona@hopedogrescue.org.

Cotton is still under vet’s review at the moment and she would need to visit the vet fortnightly. She has most likely been caged up in her previous home, so she is learning to be paper-trained.

Cotton is a female Maltese who is barely two years old. She is an extremely easy-going and friendly pooch who has just started to lead a normal life. Please give her a chance to be part of your family.

Note that preferences would be given to interested families who have a person at home to keep Cotton’s health in check.

Thank you Suzalini for helping Cotton.

URGENT: Foster / adopter needed for Cotton immediately.

If you can help with Cotton's vet bills, please email Fiona@hopedogrescue.org

Written by Claire Chai. Photo Credits: Leslie Kok