Sweetie and pet abandonment

This is Sweetie, presumably 5 yrs old or older. She was abandoned with Shyshy, another much warier dog at a farm. Later, they moved to another farm just a street down and hid themselves away from the street dogs in a storehouse, seeking food from the caretaker. I say 'abandoned' because these 2 mongrels appeared out of nowhere and because they looked/behaved like domesticated dogs.

Sweetie, for one, is lovingly friendly to almost anyone--even to myself, on first occasion; plus, she can do 'paw' and is most willing to offer her paw without one even asking for it. In the first 3 photos above, you may tell it was difficult to take her pictures as she was merrily moving about, her tail swinging in every direction as her caretaker showed me where she was 'hiding'. A few months ago, Shyshy unfortunately went missing and since the afternoon the caretaker discovered her absence, we've never found Shyshy.

Because Sweetie has grown chummy with a patchy-black male dog which we've failed to capture for castration a few times, we sent her for sterilisation upon suspicion that her tummy could be getting bigger. At the vet's, we scanned her for presence of microchip but found none.

I often wonder what part of the Animals & Birds Act actually and practically applies to the act of abandonment. Publicity rhetoric discourages pet abandonment and states that abandonment is a crime. But I've encountered a few major cases in which I was informed my attempts were futile because there were lack of evidences to prove someone abandoned their pets. Several dimensions to this:

• To prove that the pet belongs to alleged owner
• To prove the very act of abandonment
• To prove the owner has intentions to abandon pet

But what happens if a dog is not AVA licensed but is obviously known to belong to the owner and has resided on owner's property for a long time? So how is anyone supposed to be there when the owner releases his dogs from his car? What happens if dog is abandoned by a family friend or relative, not the owner himself, and the former acts on instruction from owner? Is a witness supposed to take a video of it? Even with a photo taking, how credible are images, as the owner can always deny that he was taking the dog out for walk and the images are insufficient to prove this?

Is abandonment an unspoken reality that all of us know about?

There are certainly gaps in how the Act applies to real-life cases and I hope for many of us involved, these questions reinforce the notion that the Act needs to be improved.

For Sweetie's case, we've spent quite a bit on her sterilisation, vaccination, deworming and micro-chipping. If you would like to help chip in, do email us at projectjkteam@yahoo.com.sg. We sincerely appreciate all amount of donation.

Sweetie is a lovely girl.

Coo coo people in animal welfare

I am glad that the majority of animal welfare enthusiasts/activists are genuinely concerned for their animals, but there are persistent pockets of people who choose to expend efforts in assigning blame to others and miss the whole point of, perhaps, why they started out volunteering. So is animal charity truly altruistic? I doubt so.

Or had their cranal network gone haywired?

And this is one big reason why would-be volunteers often withdraw from further commitment, and walk away with the impression that animal welfare people are—no need to hypothesize—coo coo. From complete no-show by club representative to the random volunteer who insinuates and finger-points in email threads: it is no wonder that there is hardly anything such as teamwork, and caregivers often function in silos.

Worse, where blameworthiness is not even in the picture, these individuals may choose to make something out of nothing. And I imagine the female Pomeranian which needs to have the last bark.

Am glad that for the few pals involved in this, we maintain our level headedness and rationally defend what is right for our animals and what ought to be corrected to ensure little impedes our activities.

So we put the noise aside and onward we trudge.

Emailing us

Sorry if you didn't receive any email reply from us. Trawling and filtering through spam mails is a routine and inadvertently, we might have deleted your legitimate email through mass removal. We have too many spams!

Please email us again. Thank you.

Thank you S

for helping me blast your emails to your desired audience. I really need the support, and I sincerely appreciate that you did it out of your horribly busy schedule.

Turning words into REAL actions.

Adopt Chocho - Intelligent, Peace-loving Mongrel

• Name: Cho Cho
• Sex: Female
• Age: 1 yr plus
• Coat: Chocolate-brown, short-haired
• Size: Medium, slim
• Breed: Mixed (Local mongrel)
• Sterilised: Yes
• Vaccinated: Yes
• Dewormed: Yes
• Microchipped: Yes

Brought up at a farm, Chocho was ostracized by the resident male dogs and had to fight for her food. In Feb this year, she became the target of cullers and was unfortunately caught and brought to the pound. Our rescue team redeemed her in the nick of time and brought her to the safety of a boarder.

Since May, Chocho has been relocated to a private home foster and has undergone milestones of transformation--learning from the pack to be a domestic dog, settling into the routine of her walks, baths, makan, playtime and sleep, integrating into urban life and very importantly, getting used to people.

Although cautious of strangers, Chocho has learnt to trust people more. She has no dog-to-dog aggression.

Chocho loves her walks, lunges at squirrels and cats, is an alert dog and is strong for her build. She is adaptable, healthy and fit, and a highly intelligent dog.

We are looking for a reliable adoptive family for Chocho which:

- Is patient and understanding in bonding with and socializing a dog which is naturally shy

- Is aware of and willing to commit to caring for her, i.e., the next 20 yrs

- Is able to commit to feeding, walking, bathing and socializing her, with love and care

What you will receive are:

- An immeasurable experience of love and joy

- A loving, doting family companion for life

Please consider Chocho. Contact projectjkteam@yahoo.com.sg