Mini Cooper

In the midst of searching for missing Molly, Lily and I were recalled from the search to rescue a puppy that's been ran over by a car in Jurong. It was close to midnight when we reached and the area was pitch black. We were surrounded by tall ominous containers and driving into deep rainwater-filled pot holes. Except for the stray dogs running around, not a soul was seen. No one is going to hear us even if we were to burst our lungs screaming. Fearing for our own safety, we harboured selfish thoughts of turning back. But edging each other on to keep going, we were finally rewarded with the sight of the injured puppy frantically wagging his tails gratefully. 

And this grateful little puppy, we named Cooper. 

Sweet baby Cooper

Cooper was first noticed by a lady about a month ago, while she was feeding strays in that industrial area. Cooper was a timid dog and often hid under the container, refusing to come forward when called. However, he disappeared a week later and the security guards in the area told her that he had an accident. But as he was a stray, even though knowing that he had an accident, no one bothered to search for him. Life of a stray - a dog, a cockroach, what's the difference?

But luckily for Cooper, this kind lady spotted him again. However, this time she witnessed a car ran over him and sped off. (You will be horrified to learn that this is 6 months old Cooper's 3rd accident!) She actually saw the tyre run over the back of his tiny body, rendering him unmovable on the road. The poor little baby was howling and crying in excruciating agony. (Watch the video and when you hear his cries, you'll be crying along with him too.) And in desperation, she called HOPE Dog Rescue for help.

Relieved to be held in the caring arms of the vet tech

My heart went out to him when I first laid eyes on him. Despite the pain, he was so happy to see me that he tried to stand and come forward to me. Me - a complete stranger. He is so trusting and innocent. How he had longed for love and affection. I swept him into my arms and bundled him into the car. His fur was caked with a mixture of grease, sand and rainwater. He had never had a clean day in his life. When the car moved off, its jerking movement sent Cooper shrieking in pain. The poor boy was in obvious distress as we drove over the many humps and bumps as we rushed him to A&E in the middle of the night. I held him close and tried to lift him off his bottom to alleviate his pain. I crooned into his ears to reassure him and gradually I felt him relax slightly as he fell into a fitful sleep with his head buried into my neck.

Baby Cooper in pain

Feeling sorry for himself

An x-ray was immediately carried out at The Animal Doctors and we found out that in addition to his current hip fracture, he had 2 different old fractures to each of his legs. The right leg had an old fracture that had fused back. His left leg also had an old fracture but this one, the bone had fused back in an awkward position. This made his left leg look swollen and about an inch shorter than the right. This however does not cause him pain and he is able to live with it. The sheer thought of a small 6 months old puppy suffering from 3 different episodes of fracture was extremely upsetting. He is just a baby and he had already gone through so much. Life on the streets is a harsh reality. The life and death of a stray means nothing to many.

Swollen joints from previous accidents

Too painful to stand upright

He needs to sit at this angle for it not to hurt

Abrasions from his traffic accident

Falling asleep from exhaustion

Cooper needed an orthopaedic surgeon to repair his hip fracture and was thus referred to Dr Ben Landon, an orthopaedic specialist. Almost a week had passed and we noticed that his muscles were wasting away. We were also worried that his bones would fuse in the wrong place just like his left leg. So although we were severely short of funds, we decided that we could not afford to wait and arranged for surgery.

Muscles started wasting away and so we had to proceed with surgery

In the middle of the operation, I received a call to inform me that the surgery had gone on for more than 3 hours and try as they might, the bones on his right hip was shattered beyond repair. It is too dangerous for Cooper to be under general anaesthesia for that long and they needed to quickly finish up to wake him up. So the surgeon did the best he can to salvage by using the muscles to hold the bones together instead. The repair to his left hip was thankfully uneventful and it went very well. I was reassured that in spite of the condition of his right hip, Cooper will still make a wonderful recovery with good prognosis because of his young age and that he is not heavy.



The bones could not be joined together as they were too shattered but the muscles hold the bones in place

Screws to hold his pevis in place

Ready to leave the orthopaedic specialist 3 days after surgery and head back to The Animal Doctors as we don't have anyone to foster Cooper.

Right hip

Left hip

Cooper is now back in The Animal Doctors but he needs a foster / adopter as soon as possible. We cannot put him back onto the streets. He needs post-operative care and also needs to be confined to a small area to restrict his movement. He is relatively easy to foster as he is not a noisy puppy and is pee pad trained! He is an intelligent little pup and taught himself that!

The surgery fees and vet bills has amounted to a staggering $7000. All of us in HOPE Dog Rescue are having sleepless nights over his bills. Human kind has let him down enough, please don't let him down now too. Please email esther@hopedogrescue.org to donate or adopt/ foster. 

Please help with Cooper's surgery fees and give this sweetheart a home

Written for HOPE Dog Rescue

Bento #29

Halloween is fast approaching and so decided to gather my inspiration from my favourite bento blog to create a spooky theme bento for Meg. Of course, it's nothing quite like what is featured on that blog but I'm still pretty proud of my creation :p

Severed dog fingers: Chicken Franks (refer to Adventures in Bento Making for a step-by-step guide). I wish that my severed fingers were more delicate but can't be helped in the mad morning rush for school at 5am :p

In the box: Skull Onigiri with Nori cut-outs for eyes and mouth, Severed Hot Dog Fingers, Teriyaki Chicken

Bento #28

It's been ages since I last made a bento. Meg is suddenly into packing food for recess so that she can save some money and my hands were kinda itching to make one. So why not? Not the best of bentoes but made in the spur of the moment & with sooo much love! :p

In the box: Hard-boil egg, black pepper ham & white bread

Blogged from my iPhone

Save a dog. Save my sanity.

I miss reading. I miss watching TV programs. I miss Facebooking. I miss photography and editing photos. More than not, I miss blogging. Just take a look at this derelict blog, it is now almost defunct.

Most of the people's response to me when they learnt that I am volunteering is, "You very free ah?" I am most certainly not free! There are so many things that I can occupy my time with but its just that I have chosen to give them up for the dogs.

Looking back, it's been only a mere 4 months since I had started volunteering but it feels like the longest time ever. It is not that I do not like it and time passes slowly. But it's more like there's so much emotionally that I feel I had aged so much.

I am weak perhaps. 

But my dismay with mankind is threatening to swallow me whole. A non-profit rescue group being sued left, right, and centre, does not make sense to me.No power and no money. No matter how one attempts to right the wrongs, one is doomed to fail without those factors. And now, even I am embroiled in a lawsuit. So much time, energy and money wasted. All of which could have benefited the rescue dogs instead. It feels like air being knocked out of me and I am utterly deflated.

People's ignorance with strays and street dogs. It frustrates me no end with their incredulous stupidity. 

Day in, day out; abused dogs, abandoned dogs, injured dogs. I am not sure how much more can my bleeding heart take.

There is only this much I can do; this many dogs I can save. It tears me apart knowing that there is so many more that I can't help. 

Don't get me wrong. Nothing is going to make me stop doing what I do now. I feel knocked down but I am not defeated. My love for dogs will triumph all.

(Note: Content likely to be incoherent but it's 2am, so forgive me.)

Translation of Lianhe Zaobao's article on Molly

My story on Molly that was picked up & reported on by the press 

This article was first published in the Lianhe Zaobao on 5 August 2012 and translated by Joceline Loo (18 yrs old). Posted here with permission from the Lianhe Zaobao journalist, Ms. Kristie Ong.

Just as I was pondering on how to discuss the latest social issues with my children, a friend of mine sent over a blog post on saving stray dogs.

This article helped me to kick off the discussion.

Compared to telling the children the incomprehensible issues such as female students bribing with sex, the misuse of funds by churches, male teachers putting pin-hole cameras in female toilets, female teachers charged with outrage of modesty of male students…. Saving stray dogs in the middle of the night is considered uncommon. At least I can tell them this is a true, local heart-warming story about people saving a dog.

Feelings that humans have are not restricted to lust. We are also able to feel love and warmth. Between human and dogs, friendly relationships can be built. For example, dogs are loyal towards humans and this loyalty may even be stronger than friendships that humans have with each other. A story of a human saving a dog will definitely have a positive impact compared to stories of humans hurting each other.

This was a rescue mission in Bukit Panjang on a late Sunday night.

A stray dog, awfully bony was found under a void deck by a resident who realized that the dog had a paw ripped out and was in agony.

A kind- hearted person called HOPE Dog Rescue at 2am and asked for urgent assistance. Female volunteers rushed to the place immediately and tried to use food to lure the dog into the carrier. After many attempts, they finally succeeded after 2 hours and brought the dog to a safe place.

The volunteers named the dog Molly. They observed that her right paw was missing and her bone was protruding from the wound. Her right leg was also seriously wounded with rotting flesh and maggots crawling. The foul smell was overwhelming. Molly may be caught in an animal trap and hence got hurt in the process of breaking free.

The next day, volunteers brought Molly to the vet to seek treatment.  She was treated and went through an amputation. Molly now is safe.

HOPE noted down the whole rescue process and wrote a touching blog post on her ordeal.

The volunteers behind Molly’s rescue are a group of dog lovers. They believe that we should not willfully hurt and abuse animals, through their work, they wish to have greater strength to save more dogs that need help and help the dogs rebuild their trust in humans. This vision is definitely worthy of respect. Look at it this way, in today’s society, how many Singaporeans are willing to go out very late at night and spend two hours rescuing an injured stray?

If Molly was not saved in time, her condition will definitely get worse. Unless the person is completely heartless, when faced in such a situation, one will not hesitate to save and show compassion for the animal. Besides, how can we deny that selfish thoughts have never crossed one’s mind? Such as, if a terribly injured stray is not taken care of, will it cause trouble to the community? Fortunately, passionate volunteers came in time to rescue and prevented the spread to the problem.

Someone once said, by looking at how the country treats animals, we can tell how civilized the country is.  I was so touched by Molly’s story that I goggled and found out that there are hundreds of countries in the world, based on the country’s situation, that currently have a law that protects against the abuse and cruelty of animals.

Information that I found showed that, using England as an example, one of the laws that protect the welfare of animals is the prohibition of animal abusers to own any animals or pets. In America, animal abuse is a serious offence. In Canada, animal abuse can send you to five years in prison. Germany’s laws for protecting animals are significant within the European countries.

The German federation legislative body had, through a ten year debate, voted that they will include the protection of animal rights into their constitution. Germany had since become the first European country to include this right into the constitution; it was also a big deal for humans and animals in history.

In Asia, there are many countries that also introduced laws that protect animals. In Japan, to kill or willfully hurt an animal is punishable by law. In Singapore, there is the ‘Animals and Birds act’. Those who abuse or abandon animals, if found guilty, may be sentenced to one year in prison, or a maximum fine of ten thousand dollars, or both.

This story for my children has come to an end. But in the end, I still feel that no matter it is an individual, a group or even a country, the mission of saving Molly should continue on. Besides, in today’s Singapore having overflowing Wants, saving Molly, in fact is also pulling up the continuously sinking humanity.

Thank you DBS Treasures Ngee Ann City!

Woof Woof! (Translation: Oscar says a big thank you too!)

Remember Oscar? This is Oscar now! The most adorable little sweetheart possible. He had fought with Mange and escaped death. Although so much better now, he is still visiting the vet weekly for his jabs. And for lack of a foster/adopter, Oscar is forced to stay in a kennel. These weekly vet visits and kennel lodging needs funds and Ms. Amy Tan had started a fund-raising project for him. Here's a shout-out to the kind people from DBS Treasures Ngee Ann City for raising $500 for Oscar. Thank you and bless all of you! 

Dog-friendly restaurant - Bollywood Veggies

I'm awfully late for my date with Mr. Sandman but there's this nagging guilt at the back of my head and I just had to come up with a post. It's been way too long since I last blogged about anything other than the rescues. I'm still owing quite a few posts to the group but I'll be selfish for once :p This post isn't that far off from rescues but it's at least on the opposite spectrum. A happy post!

Celebrating Lisa's birthday over the weekend

I knew them not too long ago but they have come to be a very important group of people in my life. I am grateful for whoever is looking out for me from high above to arrange for them to be here at one of the lowest period in my life.

Gorgeous Lisa

Banana cake from Bollywood Veggies - baked from banana from their own farm

Yummy Nasi Lemak!

A beautiful 3D collage made by handi-lady Rina as a pressie for Lisa

No party is complete without doggies

My first time meeting Bandit

Such a pleasure meeting him!

Mark showing Bandit some love

Popsicle the boss

Meet Snapple!

Sweet sweet Laurel

Chelsea is Lisa's sweetheart

Dog whisperer??

Dogs are the angels in my life ♥♥♥

Bollywood Veggies
100 Neo Tiew Road,
Singapore 719026 (Kranji)
Tel: (+65) 6898 5001 

OPEN ON: Wed to Sun & Pub.Holidays from 9 am to 6.30pm

Note: Dinner is not available as they close at 6.30pm

Saving Molly

I am so proud that my article for HOPE Dog Rescue on Molly (read here) had been picked up by the press. My post was also summarized and translated into Chinese. Albeit, I can recognise only half of the total words in the Chinese article. I am able to make out the gist of it.

I am so glad to be doing my part to raise awareness for these dogs. For me now, blogging is no longer just for fun. I realised that so much can be done with my words and photographs. With what I can give and offer, I have never felt richer in my life.

Please donate!

HOPE Dog Rescue - Molly (Warning - content may make you uncomfortable)

Not the prettiest picture to start a blog post with and I know that many might not have the stomach for it. But I sincerely beseech everyone to stay on and read about the ordeal of strong sweet Molly.

It was slightly after 2am on a weekday when I received a text from a friend, Astha. She had spotted a dog that had 'lost a paw', loitering at her block in Bukit Panjang. Lost a paw?? Fiona and I don't really know what that means but we rushed down all the same. 

Nothing can quite prepare us for the sight. The dog had literally lost a paw. (This dog would later come to be named Molly.) It was dark and we can't really make out how bad the injury was but we can see a good bit of the bone where her paw should have been. As the stench of rotting flesh filled the air, it gave us an inkling of the severity of her wound.

On top of that, Molly was also emaciated. (Later we learned at the vet that she weighs only a mere 10kg.) She was ravenous despite that Astha had already fed her food. We tried to take advantage of that and used food to lure her into the carrier. But I soon come to realise that rescue work is not easy. Molly was very wary of human and refused to come near us even when there was food. This was going to be a long night. 


There was no way we can rush things. We had to approach her slowly so as not to startle her. Although she was in pain and hopping on 3 legs, she was still very nimble. The slightest bit of movement from us was enough to scare her into running in the opposite direction. In fact, I remained crouched most of the time. Amazing that I can still walk after that.


Since Molly refused to come near us, we left trails of food leading to the carrier. The plan was for Fiona to push her in and close the gate, while my job was to hide behind the carrier and tilt it with all my might so that she can't come back out. Every time she comes near the carrier, I would hold my breath. In part was because of the nauseating putrid smell and the other was because I was so afraid that she would run off just by me breathing. It sounds silly but we failed so many times that I was despairing we might never get to help her. 


All too soon, we ran out of food because Molly would eat up the trails of food but never venture far enough into the carrier. Astha kindly offered to run to a 7-eleven to buy more canned food. There was nothing else that we can do but to patiently repeat this over and over again. I must have been getting pretty desperate, for I started to plead with Molly in my head. And after what seems like eternity, Molly finally trusted us enough to forage deeper into the carrier for food. That was the cue and we sprung into action. Success! We can all finally breathe a sigh of relief, now that we managed to have her safely in the carrier and get her the help that she needs.

It was almost 5am by the time we got home and poor Fiona had only 2 hours of sleep before she was due to get up and bring 2 strays for sterilization. I have the utmost respect for Fiona and her team. The amount of dedication and sacrifice that they put in is unbelievable.

The next day, residents from Green Haven helped us bring Molly to the vet as her carrier could not fit into our small van.

In the daylight, we can now see the extensive damage to her leg. You can't see it from here but it was infested with maggots. Apart from losing a paw, there was also a deep puncture hole on her left front foot, equally maggots infested. It looks like her leg was caught in something. A wild boar trap maybe? Does anyone know if there's traps in Bukit Pajang area?

Molly had remained surprisingly calm throughout it all. It was as though she knew that we were helping her. I believe that she has a really sweet and gentle disposition because she did not turn aggressive like other dogs normally would when they are in severe pain.

I can't even bear to look at the wound, let alone suffer from this pain. I don't know how Molly does it but I know it's beyond me.

Did you see the fat maggots crawling around in the video?

 

Molly would have to be amputated from the shoulder below. But the vet says that she might die on the table because she had very low red blood count from excessive loss of blood and she also has heartworm. There was however no choice but to go ahead with the surgery, as her leg was septic and had swelled to twice its size. Without the amputation, she would most definitely die from the sepsis. Everyone at HOPE Dog Rescue was very worried and kept her in our prayers as she underwent surgery.

Dear Molly who loves life had battled death and won! She is currently warded and recovering at the clinic. But sad to say her ordeal is far from over. Her next hurdle now is to find someone to adopt or foster her. If there's no one to take her in, she would have to stay at a kennel.

This stump at her shoulder would likely get infected if she is to stay at a kennel because it is dirty and wet. After Molly's struggle, she deserves a loving home that can nurse her back to health.

Molly's surgery costs $3500. While every cent is well-spent, it is something that HOPE Dog Rescue can ill afford.

If you can help in any way, be it adopting; fostering; or donating towards her surgery; please email alicia@hopedogrescue.org