Muffin Dog

“Oh do you know the Muffin Dog, the Muffin Dog, the Muffin Dog, do you know the Muffin Dog, that Hope Dog Rescue saved? Yes I know the Muffin Dog, the Muffin Dog, the Muffin Dog. Yes I know the Muffin Dog, The sweetest little dog!” (to the tune of ‘The Muffin Man’ nursery rhyme)

Muffin's previous home

A much cleaner and happier Muffin after rescue

Yes, Muffin is the sweetest little dog indeed. She is such a cutie pie isn’t she? Look at her! She is muffin’ but the best. She is small-sized, weighing only 13 kg and HDB approved. Our dear little Muffin is a 1 year old female local crossbreed that lived in a cruddy construction site with Peaches. One day, we brought some food to the construction site to feed the poor doggies there. We were expecting the doggies to run out and greet us in search of food and to bounce up and down in excitement. Strangely, this did not happen. After looking around, we found Muffin hiding under a truck. The poor girl was limping and her fur was coated in so much oil that they were all grey and hard, not nice and fluffy as they should be. Being very concerned about Muffin's condition, we immediately brought her to the vet. The x-ray showed a dorsal hip fracture. Luckily, the vet said surgery was not required and it would heal on its own with some rest. Phew! Sweet Muffin was blessed and found a foster to care for her. A week later, she went for her review, which went well and showed that she had recovered fully. Muffin can now walk, run and jump normally without a limp and has since found a loving family of her own. She is now ‘small and white, clean and bright’ like an edelweiss flower. She is so many shades lighter that one would have thought she was a different dog!

Volunteer Wendy carrying Muffin from the work site to the car, to take her to the vet

Poor Muffin, oily, dirty, grimy and in great pain with a fractured hip

Muffin cannot love and thank her adopter e'muff. She hopes that her other fur pals can find their furever homes soon too. To make her wish come true, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg. Thank you! *puppy eyes, tail wags and licks from Muffin*

Strays often don't have it easy.  If you see a stray, please give him / her a good meal. You never know if he / she will sill be around tomorrow. 

And she lived happily ever after

Written by: Weiling

Jobless & Homeless

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals," as the German philosopher Emmanuel Kant wisely said. And it is his treatment of the animals that he has taken under his wing that we have judged the heart of Uncle Seng to be one that is full of compassion.

Uncle Seng

Uncle Seng is an elderly security guard whom we have known for the past 8 years, since we started feeding strays in this particular industrial estate. He is at the guard house 24/7. He doesn’t go home, not even during Christmas or Chinese New Year. He doesn’t talk about his family, and we don’t want to pry so we never asked. Our volunteers will visit him and eat with him each Christmas and Chinese New Year. He will not accept money but will accept food and clothes so we often collect clothes from our brothers and fathers to give to Uncle Seng.

Volunteers visiting Uncle Seng every Saturday with daily necessities 

Uncle Seng is about 70 years old. On his factory compound, he has 8 cats and 2 dogs.  The 2 dogs are Mary and a black dog whom we call Audi. Audi used to live in the neighbouring factory but moved to Uncle Seng's side as he was often bullied at the other side. Mary, who we think is around 6 years old, spends most of her time under Uncle Seng's bed, only coming out to pee or poo. Audi is the son of Amber  and the brother of Vera. Amber was taken away as she was injured, and has since been re-homed. Vera, who was also injured, was rescued too, and is presently in a foster home.

Tabby

Socks

Uncle Seng used to have 3 other dogs, Mookie, Ah Huay and Tang Tang who you can read about here and here.

You can read about Uncle Seng's other charges of the feline variety here.

These dogs and cats are all Uncle Seng has, and he is all they have, and together they could have lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, fate has decided to throw a spanner into the works. The factory is closing in 1 weeks’ time. In 1 weeks’ time, Uncle Seng will lose his job, his home, and his canine and feline family. Uncle Seng has nowhere to go. He is old and hard of hearing. No company is going to pay an old man to sit around and care for his 8 cats and 2 dogs.

Audi, Vera's brother 

The dogs and cats he leaves behind will also be homeless. Furthermore, most of his cats old, sick, and feral. We have started taking them, 2 at a time, to the vet for full medical checkups and then to commercial boarding. Uncle Seng was teary eyed when we took them away but if we hadn't, they would be left behind to fend for themselves and who knows how much shorter their lives would be then. 

To date we have taken all the 8 cats to the vet :

Tabby

Tabby

-      Male

-      8 Years

-      Sterilised

-      Friendly

-      FELV Positive otherwise healthy

Socks

Socks

-      Female

-      8 years

-      Sterilised

-      Feral     

-      Healthy

Sofie

Sofie

-      Female

-      9 years

-      Sterilised

-      Friendly able to pat

-      FIV Positive     

Berto

Berto

-      Male

-      9 years

-      Sterilised

-      Feral

-      FIV Positive   

Teddy

Teddy

-     Male

-     10 years

-      Sterilised

-      Feral

-      FIV Positive, and currently down with Cat Flu (still warded)

Pearly

-      Female

-      10 years

-      Sterilised

-      Feral     

-      FIV Positive and currently down with Cat Flu (still warded)

Nina

Nina

-      Female

-      10 years

-      Sterilised

-      Feral

-      Negative for FIV and FELV

Ash

Ash

-      Male

-      10 years

-      Sterilised

-      Feral

-      Negative for FIV and FELV

The cats are mostly old and unfriendly, and most likely will have to be in a cattery for the rest of their lives. Of the 8 cats, only Tabby, Sofie and Teddy seem adoptable as they are not as wary of humans as the others who may be too feral to be re-homed. Cats are not our area of expertise, and all we can think of is putting them in commercial boarding. If anyone has other ideas or suggestions, please email us. As it stands, our plans to put all 8 cats in commercial boarding will cost us $1200 per month for the rest of their lives and that’s a lot of money.

Of the 2 dogs he has, Mary will be the hardest hit. She is like Uncle Seng’s shadow. She will be placed in commercial boarding. We have never had the chance to fully assess her temperament but we believe she is shy and wary of people. Poor Mary, this separation will prove to be very traumatic for her. We hope she doesn’t pine away for Uncle Seng.

Such fear in sweet Mary's eyes

Handsome Audi

Audi, Vera’s brother and Amber’s son, will also be sent to commercial boarding as we have no available foster space for him.  He is timid and slow to warm up but shows no aggression. We have yet to catch him as we can’t get near him, and neither can Uncle Seng.

This project is not only heartbreaking, it is also costly. Medical checks and long term boarding for all 10 animals into the foreseeable future will prove to be financially challenging. 

How nice if someone would employ Uncle Seng to work in their factory, despite his age and poor hearing and all his 8 cats and 2 dogs could go with him. Dreams have sometimes come true, perhaps this one will too.

To offer help in any way to Uncle Seng, his 8 cats and 2 dogs : foster / adopt / help with cats vet bills / sponsor cats boarding, , please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.

Chai 2.90

Remember the badly neglected Dachshund we picked up in Ang Mo Kio yesterday? He had been seen wandering the estate for a few days but no one stepped forward to help, and even complained about him being a nuisance. We picked him up and brought him to the vet, and have named the little guy Chai, meaning “life” in Hebrew. More on his background here. 

This was the photo sent to us by a member of the public

Despite obviously having been abused by humans, Chai remained trusting and allowed us to pick him up. As soon as we carried him, he snuggled so close to us, relieved and knowing that he was finally safe. As we used a towel to wrap and hold him, we were concerned that we would accidentally hurt him. He body was so frail, just skin and bones, we held him gingerly, afraid that our touch may cause him pain. He reminded us so much of Prince. As we waiting for our turn, he lay down, exhausted and weak from his past torture. He could hardly keep his eyes open and focused.

We rushed down to pick him up

At the vet when we weighed him, he was a mere 2.9kg, less than half of what he should be. Chai is estimated to be only about 3 years old. He is currently warded and put on drip to stabilize his condition. His blood count is 16, less than half of what the normal count should be. If it drops lower to 11, he will need to undergo a blood transfusion. The vet will do what they can to raise his blood count overnight and do another blood test tomorrow. Just in case, we need a blood donor dog on standby. His gums were terribly pale, almost white, probably due to the low blood count and malnourishment, or something else that the vet has not picked up yet. The vet has scheduled an abdomen ultrasound on Thursday, just to make sure there is no foreign body or mass in his abdomen. His bad diet or lack of it, has also resulted in a set of bad teeth. His fecal tests came back positive for amoeba and his liver count is a tad high. He has been starved for so long that his stomach has shrunken. As we carried him in our arms, we could hear his stomach rumbling pretty loudly and felt so sorry for him. For now, he can only be fed about a third of a portion of his normal meal. His portion size will then be gradually increased over the next few weeks to a normal serving in order to allow his body to get used to it. He also had some pretty deep sores on his hind area which appeared to be caused by sitting in a small cage for a very long period of time with no room for movement and because he is just skin and bones, his sores are very bad as he has nothing to cushion his hind area.

A bag of bones

Dirty ears

Terribly exhausted and weak

Another huge sore on Chai

Thankfully, there were no maggots in the wound. His neglect is also clearly evident in his long nails and matted fur, both signs that he has not been groomed in a while. His paw pads are very soft, more signs which point to him never been taken out for proper walks. Some good news though, he tested negative for tick fever and heartworm. Other than the physical signs of malnourishment and neglect, Chai is otherwise healthy.

Deep, weepy sore on his left rump

Weak and almost fainting

Despite all this, Chai is very affectionate, and craves love and attention. When we reach out to pat him, his tail goes off like a propeller. So happy is he to receive any sort of affection. 

For now, our immediate plan is simply to bring him back to health, and then perhaps 1 or 2 months down the road, find a family to love him forever. 

Chai is in such a sorry state, we can’t even begin to imagine how his owner could do this to him, to lock him in a small cage and starve him for a very long period of time. He is expected to stay at the vet for at least a week and we are requesting for help with his vet bills, for a blood donor dog if a blood transfusion is required and also a foster that can feed him 4 to 5 small meals day. If you can help with any of the above, email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg. 

Written by: Sam

Another Ralphie?

The night before, we were informed by a stray feeder that she had seen a dog with a maggot infested wound on his neck. She pleaded for our help, reminding us that a delay would cause his wound to become like Ralphie the Yishun stray and it would be too late to save him. Our reserves are dry and we told her we had no capacity to help.  She pleaded with us, saying that other groups had already turned her down and we were her only Hope.

Seems like a pleasant boy

Before we could agree, the feeder had engaged the services of a dog trapper, paid the trapper and they managed to set a trap and caught the dog the next night! We applaud her initiative and agreed to take on the case.

She told us that this badly injured dog was about 8 months old and she had been feeding him since he was 2 months old. She used to be able to hand-feed and pat him, till authorities came and caught his entire family of 6, instilling such great fear in him that he no longer trusted humans. He was the sole survivor and managed to stay alive by hiding in the dense forest, coming out only at feeding time.

When we rushed to the vet to meet him, we were shocked to see that the wounds on his neck were pretty deep. It seemed that the attack on him was very vicious, an attack to kill. There were deep puncture holes filled with maggots on his neck, as well as puncture holes on his legs. He must have been savagely attacked and as he tried to run away, they bit his legs as well. Poor puppy.

At the Emergency room, he was very nervous and had to be under General Anesthetic to have the maggots removed and wounds flushed clean. After hours vets don’t come cheap, thus we put off the blood test etc till tomorrow when he is transferred to another clinic and have test conducted during regular clinic hours.

We decided to name him Pongo, after the heroic dog in 101 Dalmatians.

It is sad when strays have their homes taken away. They have nowhere to go and inadvertently encroach into another’s territory and that’s when attacks and fights happen. Pongo is fortunate to have been spotted by his feeder, who immediately looked for help. Although the vet estimated that his wound is about a week old, he is truly blessed to have been noticed and caught.

Help us save Pongo. We have an outstanding vet bill of $15000/-, not just from recent rescues, sterilizations, but also many of the street dogs we rescue either have very severe accidents like Baby, are seriously ill or require long term medications and numerous vet reviews.

Please support us and help Pongo so that he doesn’t become another case of Ralphie the Yishun dog.

Email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg if you would like to share your kindness and generosity with Pongo. Thank you 

Updates On Baby

Baby’s recovery is nothing short of a miracle.

Read her rescue stories here :
Original rescue story

1st Update

2nd Update

3rd Update

From the very first moment we discovered the extent of her injuries, to the complications in between and the multiple surgeries she had to undergo, it is indeed incredible that she managed to regain use of her bladder and can even run again. She had crushed hips, not one but both and all of us initially thought that she will not be able to stand and walk again. Her bladder was displaced appallingly in her thigh area and she had to undergo surgeries to reconstruct it. Yes, not one surgery but a few. Poor Baby, the pain and suffering she had to endure. We remembered seeing her X-ray and the dire diagnosis one after another, the lumps in our throats and our heavy hearts when we left the vet. Any vet would have given up and put her to sleep, citing reasons such as quality of life after surgery. But thanks to all the support we had and all your contributions to the vet bills, we managed to find the best vet to save her. Thank you Dr Jean Paul Ly for giving Baby hope when the odds were stacked against her. Baby not only survived, but she can walk, pee, poo and can even jump on the sofa today. Her hind legs are still weak, which is inevitable but she will slowly build muscle mass and regain her strength slowly. She can now savour her food, smell the fresh air and feel the crisp grass beneath her paws because all of you came forward to do your bit to help.

We would like to thank foster Karen for taking such terrific care of Baby. We appealed for so long for a foster for Baby, no one came forward and when we were so desperate and at our wits end, Karen appeared like an angel, answering our prayers for Baby. Initially right after her surgery, Karen had to lie on the grass to express her pee and walk her up to 4 to 5 times a day. God bless you Karen!

Thankfully, Baby can pee on her own now and no longer require her foster to express her bladder. Instead of the usual strong flow of pee, Baby’s pee flow is slow, as the muscles in her bladder are weak. But she is normal, a miracle in fact, considering what she has gone through. Baby does her business outdoors and requires slow walks as she is still recovering. She loves her food and is on 3 home-cooked meals a day. Baby needs time to slowly get used to the family and does not require extra care as she is healthy and well now. She has bonded well with her foster family and even allows them to brush her teeth. Baby, however is not good with cats and does not like them very much. She prefers her canine companions and is presently being fostered with 4 other dogs now. She gets along very well with them and is not territorial and even allows them to sleep on her bed.

Baby is now ready to move on and find a permanent home of her own. Will you be her forever angel? Baby is pretty and has unique markings. She is estimated to be about 6 years old.

To ADOPT BABY, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg 


Written by: Jamie Faith