HKDR is a shelter for dogs that have been abandoned and owners that have signed off their dogs to the shelter because they can no longer take care of them. The shelter does not promote putting down any dogs. It is for adoptions. The shelter is a non government organisation. It's funding is purely from companies, donations and adoption. There are 2 locations for the shelters, one is in Tai Po and one in Ap Lei Chau.
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| Prisilla Skin infection currently segregated from other dogs. She loves affection so much! Call her name and she is very happy! |
The shelter I went to was in Tai Po. The shelter is in a remote area where only private car or taxi can drive up there. It is about a 30mins walk to the shelter from the MTR.
The land owner of the place lend the place for to them so the dogs can stay there. Inside the shelter, the organiser told us there are over 400 dogs living in this shelter. There are only 5 full time staff that are working there and taking care of the dogs. Volunteers will come during the day and walk the dogs. Surely, not every dog can be walked during the day since there is a lack of volunteers to do so.
Our first job there was to clean up and take away a lot of fragments of cement inside a big dog cage so, other dogs can find a place to sleep inside. There are over 50 cages from small to big around the area. The small cages fit about 4-5 dogs. Medium cages can go from 6-9 dogs and the large ones there can be over 10 dogs living in there. The area inside the cages is very clean. No feces. Food and water are there all the time, so the dogs will not feel hungry or dehydrated.
By the time we were done with the fragments it was time for lunch! So, we had dim sum. Not much to say about it. After lunch we headed back and started our next project!
Our next project was to help to put shading nets around the passage ways so, that the staff and volunteers can walk in and out without being under the sun during the summer weather. It can seriously make a person fall ill and dehydrated without the shades.
Once that was done most of us got to walk the dogs! The best moment of the day! Honestly, these dogs need so much love and care. You can just tell from their eyes. They are desperate. No dogs or even humans would want to live in a place like this. Surely, the place is clean with plenty or food and water but the most important thing that is these dogs do not have the attention that they need from a home.
Walking time for each dog can just be 15mins - 30mins. It isn't enough but that's all they can enjoy because there are so many other dogs that are waiting for their turn in their cages.
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| Super wild and curious about everything puppy! |
I got the chance to walk a few dogs. A few dogs and a puppy. Seriously how can people abandon these dogs? It's okay, the staff there will organise you and let you know which dog you are allowed to walk. Most of the time they will let you walk the friendlier dogs. The friendlier dogs are in Green and Yellow tags and the dogs that have serious issues due to their past are in the Purple and Red tags. Those dogs needed to be walked by a professional or the ones that the dogs feel comfortable with.
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| Such a cute puppy! |
As you can see the dogs are taken care of. During the summer heat there will be shower heads inside the cages. The staff will turn them on so the dogs can cool down from the heat. Also, they get a huge buckets where the little pups can soak in to cool down their body temperature.
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| Meet Baldwin! |
FYI, animals that are sent to SPCA normally will survive max. 4 days. If no one adopts them they will be put down. Most of the dogs that are put down are the big dogs and most likely that people do not want are the mix breeds.
The picture above is Baldwin. He is super cute and love human affection. While he was in his cage among the other 10 dogs, Baldwin is always in front of the door. He will jump up and put his paw out to you just to get some affection. He will even lick your hand.
The story behind Baldwin is his owner had to move to a small place and could no longer have Baldwin in his new home. He didn't have time to walk and take care of Baldwin due to his work, so Baldwin was sent here. I urge someone who has the heart and loves a husky to think about adopting Baldwin. He is very timid and doesn't harm anyone nor fierce to other dogs in the shelter. Check out more information about Baldwin!
No animal should be in a place like this. I do urge many future pet owners who do want to have a pet, no matter it is a cat, dog, rabbit etc please please please think about adopting first!
There are so much advantages on adopting an animal than just buying it off in a pet shop. Adopting an animal is even more safe because all these dogs that are in a shelter have been neutered and their injections have been completed. If you get it in a pet shop, they don't have it and many bad pet shop owners will inject the dogs some hyper active substances that will make you think they are active and cute. Once you have taken the dog home, they will fall sick. Also, dogs that have been abandoned will not take anything for granted. They know what happened to them and they can feel that a home is the best thing they should be and not being surrounded by dogs barking all day long.
As I mentioned Hong Kong Dog Rescue is an Non Profit Organisation. They get money to run the shelter by company donations or from people and from adoptions. I personally put my effort on purchasing a top from them! The top cost less than $20USD ($100HKD) it is something at least I can help.
If I didn't have 2 dogs and a cat in my home right now, I'd probably will adopt a dog. All I can say that I am a proud person that I have a mix breed dog that my family and I adopted last year through a person who cannot take care of the dog and I adopted a cat due to the shop that had a cat made a bunch of little kittens. Lastly, my family and I did purchase a dog in a dog shop and that was 13 years ago. We didn't know better. Now we do so we are adopting and say NO to purchasing!
If you would like to contribute you can either become a volunteer or donate to the HKDR!
Donate: http://www.hongkongdogrescue.com/public/general.php?pageId=76
Shop Online: http://hongkongdogrescue.com/public/shop.php
MEET MY PETS!
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| BB - 13 years old - Boy - Pomeranian (Purchased) |
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| Cat aka Mao Mao - 12 years old - Boy - Mix Breed Cat (Adopted) |
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| Kirin - 1 year old 6 months - Girl - Mix Breed Dog (Adopted) |
#HKDR if you visited or attending any events! Rescusing a life is a life changing experience for you and the animal.
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