Rescuing and rehoming abandoned dogs in Hong Kong

For the first time in many years our regular Sunday Puppy Afternoon didn't take place, not only because both Whiskers N Paws and our own Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre were closed, but also because "gatherings" of more than four people are now not allowed.  We're all having to adapt to  a new way of living and working, and currently that means meeting available puppies in their respective foster homes unless they're staying at our Tai Po Homing Centre which is open as usual due to it being an outdoors venue.  We do have some puppies there as well as all of the adults, from young to senior, so please don't forget them and that they also need homes.

The virtual lockdown has also meant that we're not seeing dogs coming in as we used to, so for those who have offered to foster - thank you - for now all puppies are already in temporary homes, or moving in with their forever families like Lola did today.  However who knows what will arrive on any given day so if there's a new need for foster homes you'll read about it here first.

For more details of the available puppies please see this link  https://www.facebook.com/hkdogrescue/photos/pcb.3174696712543039/3174692742543436/?type=3&theater

Jasmine is the newest Tai Po dog and an incredibly sweet girl.

We can cross off Rio, Wilf and Lola from this collection.

It's hard dealing with surrender requests for old dogs, those that have spent their entire lives with their families and who are now being thrown out.  As someone who has, and has had, many old dogs to take care of I fully understand that it can be hard.  There's the same interrupted sleep that comes with having a human baby, often multiple vet visits and medications to buy, so it's a challenge for sure.  However being there for a dog when it needs you the most is part of the deal you agree to when taking in a puppy, and if you can't handle it then please don't even start.

I admit I don't have any patience with such dog owners, as well as having no understanding of how they can be so unfeeling and callous.  It seems that there are many people who assume that dog rescue organisations exist to relieve them of the burden of their senior pets, or as somewhere convenient to dump four-legged family members when they become an inconvenience.  

Adopting (or buying) a puppy is a long-term commitment to a life that depends on you entirely for fifteen years on average.   A dog considers its humans as family, and trusts that they will always be there, a trust that is too often broken.   Allowing children to influence the parents' decision to get a puppy also often means that once the kids are grown up the dog gets thrown out too, so please make sure that it's the whole family that wants to have a dog.

Having said all of that there are happily many wonderful dog parents, those who genuinely do think of their pets as being part of the family, and that's what I'm hoping for when I'm there every Sunday at Whiskers N Paws with the puppies needing homes.  At the moment we have so many and it's not a great time to be a puppy-in-waiting with Christmas coming up, closely followed by Chinese New Year.  These are the little ones who were at last Sunday's afternoon event  Puppy Adoption Day 17 November 2019 - Part 2 and now with a lot of new arrivals it's going to be a packed puppy enclosure for sure.

Our new French bulldog Romeo's story is a sad one, as it seems he has spent years in a cage, standing on hard wire with no bedding or relief.  His poor feet are sore and swollen as a result, so we're having to keep his walks outside to short outings until his pads harden and heal.  Keeping dogs in cages is an abomination as far as I'm concerned and I wish there was a law against it.

Poor Romeo's pads are sore and swollen

Lots of new puppies have recently come to us