Sat 16th January: Another new bunch

Venus seems to be contantly bewildered

I’d inadvertently brought home the vaccination records for tiny Maltese Benson, and shih tzu Venus, so I had a double reason for going to kennels today.  The other one was that I wanted to be there when the new dogs arrived from the Kowloon AFCD centre. I got there just in time as Benson was leaving for his new home, as was terrier Coconut (the one who was found on the Peak).

Luckily we had a foster home standing by for the new chihuahua, and as soon as I saw the tiny baby dachshund puppy that was in the same intake I immediately asked if she could go too.  This mini girl had been left outside a police station in a cardboard box with a note: “I am a baby”, and she is indeed.  She was also vomiting some rather nasty staff, and because of her (short) history, I’d have to say her health can’t be guaranteed.   I hope the vomiting (and later diarrhoea) are due to the stress of the journey.

Also with the newcomers was a dear little poodle girl, Belle, who seems to have had at least one litter of puppies.  With the new breeder and pet shop laws, home (also know as hobby) breeding has been sanctioned by the government so there is nothing to stop anyone who feels like it from doing so.  Quite how this was seen as a step forward I don’t know, and HKDR wasn’t the only animal welfare group strongly opposed to the loophole which allowed home breeding to continue.   Whether or not Belle was deliberately bred, she certainly wont be having any more puppies as she will be desexed next week.  She is young, playful and very sweet, and I can almost guarantee that she will be adopted before the weekend is out.

I wish I could say the same of the mongrel boy that was also part of the Kowloon group, or the many mixed and multibreeds that wait for homes. The “breeds” come in, and the “breeds” go out, and for the life of me I can’t see the attraction of a golden retriever over a smart, cute and physically strong mix.  If it was a dress or a handbag, people would pay a lot more for a unique, one-of-a-kind design than they would for an off-the-peg version that looked exactly the same as hundreds of others.  I love all animals, but I suppose mongrels mean more to me simply because they really are the underdogs.