24th June 2008

Thought I'd best get onto a post for you guys....actually I have more reports to write and I am just putting them off really!

Wow...what a week! So, what made this such a hectic week then (I hear you ask)? Well it all started on Saturday. Tried to have a lie in but the grasscutter started at 7.30AM....come on! We had two volunteers taking new photos of all the dogs for a new advert while I did some dog viewing. Took most of the day!

Sunday was planned to be quiet with just one cat delivery - Oscar (pictured). How hard can it be...pick up a cat...deliver a cat! How to catch a cat (my way): Catch the cat and put it in a basket...it broke out breaking the basket on it's way through. Catch the cat again and jump in the car with it...realising too late the windows were open (my aircon is broken). Cat jumps out of window scratching my arm on the way! OK. Close the windows, catch the cat, jump back in the car and cover head protectively with arms until cat stops racing round the inside of the car trying to find a way out. Result: scratched stomach, arm, leg and face but we still have the cat in the car (yippee).

How to deliver a cat (my way): Pull up to the delivery address. Bruise most parts of your body trying to squeeze out the door without setting the cat free. Knock on the door to make sure someone home before removing the cat from the car. Carefully open the door to find the cat wedged under your passenger seat. Wrestle with seat to free the cat without the cat escaping suddenly. Grab the cat and run towards the house ignoring all scratching, hissing and biting and shut the door. Result: one delivered cat, one bruised and battered body, one destroyed car interior, one passenger seat that will never go to its original position and one seriously messed up and sweaty hairdo!

The rest of the week in summary: Super friendly dog outside the office which we think is a lost and found case so need to try and track her owner. She is also due to come into season so need to get her 'done' as soon as possible.

Two dogs that suffer from mange and one of them is really bad again so the owner has agreed I can take the dogs so hopefully can move them by the end of this week.

Someone upset with me because I asked to rehome their cats as they are living in a rabbit hutch and asked if I could help to retrain their dog so it can be let out of its cage. Reminder: I'm trying to help animals...not win a popularity contest!

Five cats found in a washing machine (not put there...their choice), two mangy pups abandoned by their mum (now in foster care), 6 new kittens born for rehoming in five weeks, another kitten found and needs rehoming, one cat lost even though someone wants to adopt it. And it's only Tuesday....how long until Friday????

Enjoy the rest of your week

18th June 2008

Hey guys! Quick update...the pups dumped at Serasa beach are now ready for adoption. Although we lost three of the pups, the remaining three have made it and I am so happy for them. They are cuddly, affectionate and playful and even if we didn't save all six of them, three is better than none...right?

I would love for all three of them to go together but to have three dogs is a lot to take on for most people here but we can hope. They are now strong and healthy and huge kudos and thanks goes to Angela for her nurturing care and love for them...not sure what I would do without friends like her! They make it possible for me to help more animals than I can actually handle...Angela...we all luv ya...whether we have two or four legs :)

Probably a good point here to give a shout out to my 'main guys'... along with Angela, we have Tina, Tracy and Sarah who I rely on more than I should and they have yet to let me down...thanks guys:)

If anyone is interested in adopting any pups, old or young (and there are advantages of an older dog!), please, please, please give me a call or email...the more dogs I move on, the more I can help. As my friends have demonstrated, I can't do this alone...even if the dogs don't luv ya, I will:) although cos our dogs get spoiled rotten by us they will love ya anyway:)

15th June 2008

Hi everyone. As I am dealing with the same sort of cases that I have spoken about already, I thought I would revisit some older events with you. Let me start with my first dog bite! It was a long time coming thinking about it...after 8 months of dealing with dogs, it happened!

There was a stray female dog reported to me in a business area in Gadong near the flyover. I had caught the dog and sterilized her and as usual returned her to her original pick up point. This by the way is very important. I have many people who call me to sterilize stray dogs and then ask why I am returning them to their origin. There are two main reasons for this: if I remove the dog, where should I put it? There is no land, no sanctuary, no holding area. Also if I take the dog to another area, it runs away immediately trying to find it's 'home' because the new area is unfamiliar and may contain other dogs who do not accept the 'new' dog. In this case, I am unable to monitor the health of the dog in terms of disease and feeding. The chances are good the dog will die. I have tried on two occasions to do this and in both cases the dog has gone missing within an hour of being set free even though food was placed near them to encourage them to stay.

Anyway back to the story. A week after the dog was sterilized, I got a call to say some poeple in the office weren't happy about the dog being back and because it was friendly, it kept approaching them. Some of the staff were nice to the dog and gave it food so of course it thought all people liked dogs.

So, in I go again and removed the dog. Several staff in and around the building begged me not to kill the dog. It just shows people are mostly unaware of what I do. I found a foster carer for her so I picked her up and took her there. She was ok in the van until I put a lead on her and then she freaked! She bucked and jumped and eventually ran under a table. It was whilst trying to pull her out of there that she bit me. It scared me but do you know even as frightened as she was, she didn't hurt me or even break my skin.

There is a happy ending. Her foster carers fell in love with her and decided to adopt her. She is still there and always happy to see us when we go for a visit. Her new owners named her Clover and her and her new playmates have since destoyed one of my handbags trying to get the treats out but the affection and kisses they give makes it worth it...can always buy a new bag...but not that sort of unconditional love!

6th June 2008

Hello! Sorry again for the gap...no excuses really...could come up with a few but just the usual...busy!

So to update you on going ons...the dumped kittens at Serusop have moved to their permanent home today. I will miss them of course but they have gone to a fantastic home in Tutong to a really nice lady called Ernie...she has been desperate to get her hands on them and as they are all doing so well now (with the help of my good friend Tina) they are now ready to go. Additionally, now that they have moved on, we can help other needy cats :) We have a few upcoming cats and kittens coming next week once they have finished their treatments so check out the AS blog for available animals.

On the dog side, a vet has seen the tumor dog we have spent many hours chasing. Unfortunately, our choices are to euthanize him or the remove his leg, tumour and all. If we remove his leg, he will need a permanent home as he may not survive on the streets so I am considering this case. Will keep you updated once I have spoken further with the vet. Some of the puppies are being adopted also which is great...just like the cats, once we rehome the puppies, we can help more of them still on the streets. The more people help me, the more I can help them so keep helping me to spread the word!

At a recent meeting, I showed some of my case photos including Cookies and Cream (pictured) and some of the rescue cases. I am sure we will have many more successes to show at our next meeting, of course with all the support and help I can get from you guys.

Haven't been back on the radio recently but hope to be back soon. Really had fun on the show with Jack, Harry, Tom and Siobhan. Besides, I think Siobhan needs to moral FEMALE support. She is soooo sweet but out numbered by the boys...girl power and all that!

Well that's about it for now. I am going to try to have a quiet weekend and to clean out my car...(it is so messy!) and to catch up on some paperwork so will update you all on events early next week...have a good, animal friendly weekend :)