Sunday, December 7, 2008

88

Paul was walking along one of the pet farms located at Pasir Ris when a pair of Sharpeis which were being sold for $880 each caught his attention. Cramped in metal cages, the 2 of them were snuggled together for warmth. As he already had 2 huskies at home, all he could do was hope for the best for them and he decided he would return another day to see if they had been bought.

Weeks passed and Paul decided to visit the pet farm since he lived nearby. To his dismay, he saw that the Sharpeis were still up for sale, but by that time their values having dropped by at least half the original price. After a talk with one of the workers, he realized that the Sharpeis’ fate would be doomed if they were not bought after a certain time period and he tried his best to pass the message around that there were Sharpeis up for a relatively cheap price. Unfortunately, they were stuck there for 4 months and their value eventually dropped to as low as $88 each.


Sores on 88's back from poor living conditions in the cage


Desperate, he looked around for animal lovers for help and he managed to get hold of me. Paul requested if I could foster the male because he could only house the female since his female dog was rather territorial. I agreed.

When Paul first brought the dog to my place, it was petrified. Despite having the large space to roam about in the living room, the huge area seemed to overwhelm him. He stayed to one corner for a good half hour before daring to take a step forward. Perhaps he thought that the world only consisted of a metal cage and that he belonged there for eternity.


88 suffering from an eye infection which produced lots of eye discharge

It was then we decided to nickname him Bling. Bling was the epitome of sadness – after having been caged up for almost 4 months, his eyes had difficulty focusing, had sores on his body and his legs were not strong from lack of use. As he was in a small cage with his sister, they did not have enough space to lie down so the first night when he slept, he stood and closed his eyes. The sight of that brought tears to our eyes. How could anyone do this to innocent puppies?


3 weeks after 88's rescue

We fell in love with Bling for his cute, soft rubbery folds and his saddest eyes, which we were convinced, were meant solely to tug at your heartstrings, and remind you he would have been put to sleep had it not been for the fact we agreed to foster him. He was just so beautiful.

He literally took baby steps to explore the house and started following me because he trusted me the most, and although my male dog Pharaoh didn’t like him too much, my playful female dog, Chi Chi, adored him and tried to play catch with him whenever she had the chance. He soon learnt how to play with her, like a typical puppy, and they became pals as they chased each other around the house.

Unfortunately, my house wasn’t big enough to house a dog as big as a Sharpei. We had to ask around if anyone was willing to adopt him and give him the life he deserved. Fortunately, my cousin managed to find a friend, Yvonne, who was more than willing to take him in. To me, she was the perfect adopter as she absolutely loved Sharpeis and had owned a few in the past.


This is 88 today (:


Deep down I felt sad as if I had let Bling down, because I knew he and I had a bond, However, I couldn’t give him what he deserved, and so I made the choice to let him go. Still, it is heartwarming knowing that he is living a life he fully deserves. Oh did I mention that his name has also been changed to 88? I think it is extremely appropriate, because it was either to be bought at $88, or to lose his life forever.

I think of Bling aka 88 often, always with a smile and a deep contentment knowing he is loved and well taken care of. I will always be grateful to Yvonne and her family for giving 88 a home and the love that he deserves.

~Article contributed by Zen Law

If you haven't done so, don't forget to buy a NA 2009 calendar to support dogs such as 88. Click on http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.com/2008/09/long-awaited-noahs-ark-calendar-is.html or paste it in your browser to get to the calendar order page. Start the year with 88 - he is Mr January 2009! :D

2 comments:

Unknown said...

88 has a good home with my mom. From the early days when he came with a squint, he's now morphed into a real "sam-seng" dog since he's the only male in a household of females!!

yvonne said...

when 88's pic was emailed to me, I was afraid to open it as I am qute addicted to sharpei's. We had also lost our 14 year old sahrpei (One-One) just over a year ago. When I finally opened the email and saw the pic, it was very clear that we would take 88. He is a spitting image of one of our earlier sharpei's. He has certainly grown into a lovely boy. He is leader of the pack at home and has so much fun racing up and down the garden barking at everyone and everything outside our front gate.augma

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