Sunday, August 31, 2014

Our Street Dogs and Their Harsh Times – Part 2/2

Jackson was not so lucky as his injury was more severe as compared to Sintu and Yogi (http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.sg/2014/08/our-street-dogs-and-their-harsh-times.html). Nonetheless, he is slowly on the route to recovery and this shy but playful boy is also looking for a place to call home!

When we started spaying the dogs at Jackson’s area, Jackson’s mother had already given birth. Jackson initially had four other siblings and as we are typing this now, only one remains at their original “home”. We took in some of the younger and weaker puppies around Jackson’s area (https://www.facebook.com/noahsarkcares/posts/808146619250503) but there were just not enough fosterers to take all the puppies off the streets. The other two siblings unfortunately disappeared and we found one of Jackson’s friendliest sister motionless one afternoon. Jackson’s sister passed on likely due to infection from her tail injury – but was the tail injury really caused by a dog bite as told to us by the workers or was it a case of abuse, we will never know. The truth is harsh but need to be told. As we were contemplating if to include photos of Jackson’s deceased sister, we decided to do it so that this sweetie will be remembered by.



A few weeks passed and we thought all was well until Jackson’s injury was discovered. Jackson squeezed out from a corner as we were about to leave after leaving some food for them. Initially, we only saw his right view which was fine. When he lifted his head from eating to look at us straight in the face, our jaws dropped. Jackson’s left eyeball was popping out of the socket and the front part of his eyeball was already brown from soil, mud and dirt sticking to the pus!


We looked around for the workers to ask them what happened and they said it was caused by another adult dog. Puppies often get bullied especially in their quest for food and survival – we of course do not blame the adult dog/s though this is really terrible. We grabbed Jackson without further delay and off to the vet he went. The vet advised that an enucleation has to be done as soon as possible as there was no way to save his eye. Jackson also had a tummy full of worms – a usual scenario for street dogs. He will also be neutered at the same time when undergoing the eyeball removal surgery.





With a handful of cases flowing in, we need your help. Please email noahsarkcares@gmail.com if you are able to foster or adopt or help us with the medical bills. We very much appreciate it, and will try our best to continue helping the street animals. Thank you!

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Our Street Dogs and Their Harsh Times – Part 1/2

Every society has its strengths and weaknesses – that includes us too. Our top priority will no doubt be our numerous residents over at our sanctuary NANAS which we promise each of them food, shelter and care from the day they step into our sanctuary door till the day they breathe their last.

Apart from those already at our sanctuary, Noah’s Ark places a great emphasis on our street work in Singapore under PID – Project Industrial Dogs. PID seeks to curb the root of the problem – to stop the endless reproduction as well as lessen the number of strays on the streets through active sterilization. Though our PID team is small, we always press on with the firm belief that with each female street dog spayed, many lives are inadvertently saved.

We come across all sorts of cases when our volunteers roam the streets. In addition to regularly providing the street dogs with food, our priority is to sterilize the dogs and control their population. We explain what we are doing to the factories be it bosses, supervisors or workers and try our very best to convince them to work with us. Needless to say, there are all sorts of responses. On the positive side, some workers can see where we are coming from and also ask us for medical help for their factory dogs. They will even refer their friends who work in other factories to us to help their dogs. We are grateful they understand and want the best for their canine companions - though these dogs do not live in the lap of luxury but they are well-loved.

We try our best to manage each case amicably - Sintu was one lucky dog to receive help from us despite initial resistance from his workers.


Sintu
We have seen Sintu in this factory for years and at night, he is often seen chilling with the workers sitting beside the factory gate. We have even seen the workers playfully put a big hamper ribbon round his neck during Chinese New Year - he looked just like a festive mascot. :)


An elderly caregiver who also feeds Sintu regularly informed us that Sintu has taken ill. We have just seen him around a couple of days back but as it was always during our late night feedings, we did not notice anything amiss.


One afternoon, we dropped by Sintu's factory to look for him. We went round the factory but could not find him until we obtained the help of some workers to call him out. When we saw Sintu, we knew that this boy needed medical attention immediately for himself and also to avoid infecting the other dogs. Sintu had contracted TVT (canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor - http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/reproductive_system/canine_transmissible_venereal_tumor/overview_of_canine_transmissible_venereal_tumor.html) and he must have had this condition for quite some time for his genitals to show such symptoms externally.


One of the older workers initially did not allow us to take Sintu away, despite us assuring him that we will return Sintu after he is well. He kept insisting that with the application of medication, Sintu will gradually get better. While we are aware that with their traditional mindsets and perhaps due to genital injuries being a sensitive issue, he was not exactly open for discussion but we stood firm and kept persuading him to allow us to bring Sintu to the vet. After some time, he finally relented and we quickly put Sintu into the carrier without further delay (should he change his mind).


Over at the clinic, the vet confirmed the diagnosis and we have already started the weekly vincristine jabs on Sintu. If Sintu does not get better after a few jabs, a biopsy will then be required. Meanwhile, we are monitoring Sintu’s condition closely with the help of his workers.


Yogi
On one of our feeding nights, we made a turn into this particular lane when we saw a few dogs loitering around. A huge dog came running towards us when he smelt food and we found that he is affectionately called Yogi by the factory who has kept him since young. We were feeding Yogi and about to go off when we saw that he had a hole in his scrotum. We know only too well that the hole though small for now, will likely get infected and cause Yogi much pain further down the road. We spoke to the elderly security uncle and he was only too glad to have our help to treat Yogi.

As it was already late at night, we promised the security uncle we will be back during the weekend to fetch Yogi. Saturday came and a worker from Yogi’s factory helped us to put Yogi into the carrier. Though big in size, Yogi was a gentle giant whom everyone at the factory loves. We could tell they treated him and his other canine friend well and we promised them we will bring him back once he is well.
 


We sent Yogi to the vet for neutering and vaccinated him as well. He was also treated for his scrotum injury which we were glad that medical aid was rendered on time. Yogi was also given a good bath before being ferried back to his factory a week after – the workers stopped work to welcome him back while he happily greeted them too!

 
 
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Sintu and Yogi are just two of our recent cases and even though our medical bills are on the rise, we are unable to turn away the needy street animals. How do we say no when we might be their last line of help? This is the least we can do for them, to ensure they are able to lead their lives out in dignity and not slowly pass on in misery due to injury or sickness.

In Part 2 later, we will be featuring another rescue case which we genuinely need your kind support to help see us through. Any bit of contribution is appreciated, as we continue to help the street animals and their caregivers. Please email us at noahsarkcares@gmail.com if you can help in any way – be it in the form of a monetary donation or even fostering as we have a few other cases at hand seeking fosterers too. Thank you!

Monday, August 11, 2014

Our Singapore Street Dogs - FAR (Foster / Adopt / Rescue)

Dear friends and supporters,

As we celebrated our Nation's 49th birthday over the weekend, all of us in the animal welfare line only hope for one thing - the better for our street animals. We have been trying to control the population of the street dogs at a far end of Singapore and majority of the friendly ones have already been sterilized. However, a few were unfortunately caught by dog-catching contractors. These are dogs so friendly they will let you pat them even if you are meeting them for the first time. Can you imagine how much grief we felt when we were told that the dogs actually approached the contractors to greet them? Strays do not choose to be born on the streets - and being human friendly only proved fatal to them.

We need your help. We need fosterers (with private addresses for bailing the dogs out) to help us house the dogs temporarily while we seek to find them a permanent home. We are also looking for adopters if you are looking for a lifelong companion. If you can help to foster or adopt, please email us at noahsarkcares@gmail.com.

With effect from 1st July 2014, AVA has lowered the annual licensing fee of the fourth dog from S$180 to S$15 with one of the main conditions being the fourth dog must be a local mixed breed (mongrel). For more details, you can refer to http://www.ava.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/9253E7B2-E57D-4992-982C-1304E73748D6/28236/loweringoflicensingfeesfor4thdogfactsheet.pdf. We are hopeful that with this legislation in place, more rescued strays can thus find homes.
 
Below are individual profiles of the dogs for your kind consideration and whom are awaiting their second chance amidst many more dogs out there still struggling just for survival.


For Fostering / Adoption

(A)   Name: Sandy
Gender: Female
Breed: Mongrel
Estimated Age: 6 months old
Colour: Brown long-coated with black muzzle
Sterilized: Not yet
Background: Sandy is the bigger sibling of two girls and she is the friendlier one. Needless to say, she was first to be caught too. Her sister is still on the streets but the sister is more wary, which practically means she will be safer too (we hope). We apologize that we do not have a nicer photo of Sandy as yet but have included a picture at the top right hand corner of how she looked like when she was three months old. 



(B)   Name: Thumbie (meaning “younger brother” in Tamil)
Gender: Male
Breed: Mongrel
Estimated Age: 5 years old
Colour: White
Sterilized: Yes
Background: Thumbie was well-loved by his workers but unfortunately, they did not keep him within the factory premises and he greeted the dog-catching contractors disastrously. For a big boy his size, he has an excellent temperament and no aggression. He’s calm and good with both humans and dogs.

 
 
For Adoption

(1)    Name: Molly
Gender: Female
Breed: Mongrel
Estimated Age: 4 months old
Colour: Brown with black muzzle
Sterilized: Not yet
Background: Molly was taken in by us as she and another sibling Polly were severely undernourished with their mother not having enough food (and milk). Polly has since been rehomed but we are still looking around for a permanent home for Molly. She is active and playful, a lovely little girl who is growing up prettily and healthily. She is good with cats too!

 
 
(2)    Name: Abbie
Gender: Female
Breed: Mongrel
Estimated Age: 8 months old
Colour: White with light brown patches
Sterilized: Yes
Background: Alongside with Thumbie, she met her doom due to her trust in humans. Nonetheless, Abbie is still loving and friendly. She is gentle and good with both humans and dogs. Low maintenance for a puppy and currently being paper-trained. 

 
 
(3)    Name: Chloe
Gender: Female
Breed: Mongrel
Estimated Age: 1.5 years old
Colour: Tri-colour long-coated
Sterilized: Yes
Background: Chloe will jump on anyone to greet them – you are bound to fall in love with her when you meet her. She is a tall girl, playful and happy. The stay at the pound scared her a bit but she is back to her usual cheerful self. She is good with both humans and dogs too!

 
 
(4)    Name: Lucky Boy
Gender: Male
Breed: Rough collie (shaven down)
Estimated Age: 9 years old
Colour: Blue merle
Sterilized: Yes
Background: Lucky Boy was abandoned at a shipyard in western Singapore, and the security guard asked the fosterer to take him away as he was being bullied by other dogs. Lucky Boy has been at his fosterer's place for a while but as the other dogs are more assertive, he gets pushed around a fair bit too. We are hoping that like his name, there will be someone who can adopt him and give him a quieter home environment to spend his golden years.



We hope to be able to help these street dogs who deserve so much more, and it is only with your support that we can do this. Thank you.

Beneficiary of Animal Merchandise :)

Noah's Ark CARES Supporters