The beginning of the year has started off with a bang!! We are extremely grateful to all of the supporters and volunteers who came together and helped us raise funds so that we could get new sturdy kennels for our outside dogs. Thanks to everyone s generosity we were able to make sure that all of our outside dogs had kennels to sleep in on colder nights. Of course we always make sure our animals are warm and have shelter, but when we came across these kennels on line we knew they would benefit the dogs greatly. Also this month one of our long term supporters Mat Thompson started a fundraiser to collect money to buy Ugly Blankets for our animals at the centre. He managed to collect enough funds to buy over 65 blankets for our animals. These blankets are large and warm and have been used to cover cages and also put in the kennels or cages to keep our animals warm. We would like to again thank each and every single person who helps us from donating, to volunteering, from reposting our FB posts to adoption, we are only able to do the work we do with your help and generosity. Animals Taiwan is a team and by working together we hope to make 2014 our best year yet!
On a visit to one of the government shelters in Taipei our rescue/ CNR volunteer noticed three small breed dogs at the shelter. He was informed by one of the volunteers at the government shelter that two of them didn't stand much chance of being adopted as one of them had a suspected fractured pelvis and the other had some disorder that made her head continue to move around. The third was a healthy poodle. Our volunteer called us and asked if we could help. We said yes, as we know many of our adopters and supporters can look past the outside beauty of a dog and see the inner beauty. We also know that even if these dogs were adopted through the government shelter that they wouldn't be spayed or neutered before adoption and probably wouldn't receive any medical check ups apart from being chipped and vaccinated. The next day our volunteer went back to collect the dogs but was informed that we cannot take the healthy poodle, but we could only have the other two. Both were taken to our vet immediately. Psalm is a Maltese mix who is very old and once we shaved her fur we discovered her entire body was covered in cancerous tumours which started bleeding every time we touched them. We believe she may have been dumped by an owner due to her medical conditions. Psalm has a ruptured ear drum which causes her head movements and can be quite painful for her. We are currently dealing with her ear problem first and will decide at a later date whether or not to operate on her tumours. We know that Psalms road to recovery will be rocky and long, but we believe she deserves the best care we can give. We also hope that we can find someone who would be willing to look past her disabilities and take her into their home.
Betty is the Chihuahua from the shelter. Betty had a huge tumour on her chest, her ovaries were infected and withered, her pelvis broken, and on top of all that she had contracted coccidiosis. We believe she was another breeding dog over used to the point where her body finally gave out and so then she was abandoned by the breeders as she was of no use to them. Betty has a good appetite but she is still very wary of people at first, probably because she has had no real human contact or at least no friendly human contact. Betty also has a long recovery road ahead, but we still have hopes in finding her a permanent home so she can finally live the life she deserves. Our supporter and volunteer who owns Petaholic Pet Garden, a newly opened pet boarding facility in Taipei, discovered Arthur abandoned in Danshui. Arthur was tied to a lamp post for over two hours on a very cold and rainy night. The volunteer contacted us for assistance to help find Arthur a forever home and we agreed. To ease our burden, he also offered to foster Arthur at Petaholic. Arthur was taken to be neutered, micro chipped and vaccinated. He also had a blood test and passed. The vet said he is very healthy and about 3 years old. See his happy ending below. Penny, a four month old female puppy was rescued from the streets by a lady suffering from a very bad case of worms. There were no other puppies or the mother in the area so the lady took pity on the puppy and took her in. She contacted us for help and we agreed as long as she could foster the Penny. Our wonderful volunteer Mary has offered to help us find a home for her in the US as she recently had a few people contact her about her black and white puppies and she should be
able to find a home for her. Patty has now been spayed, chipped and vaccinated and is awaiting her furever home. Rainbow from Grandma Nitti's who has supported Animals Taiwan from the very beginning with events, fundraising and donations called us for help. Rainbow is a huge advocate for TNR/CNR and often does it by herself around the areas of her restaurants and home. She had caught a 5 month old female dog in an area near her restaurant. The dog is healthy and so she took her to the vet for a check up and got her spayed. After a resting period she returned her to the area where she was living. However, the puppy who is now named Lucy, decided she didn't want to live there anymore and followed Rainbow back to her restaurant. She sat outside the restaurant all day and refused to leave. Rainbow hoped by the next day Lucy would return to her area, but she didn't. Rainbow already has many cats and two dogs of her own and is unable to take in any more animals, but she couldn't leave this dog outside her restaurant as the neighbours were complaining and she was afraid she would be taken by the dog pound. Rainbow has very rarely in the 9 or more years of her support asked us for help, and so when she called us we knew that it was her last resort. We agreed to take in little Lucy and help her find a loving home. Lucy is a healthy young pup who loves people and is friendly to other dogs, we hope to find her a loving home soon. On the eve of Chinese New Year one of our rescuer/cnr volunteers noticed a very thin female dog wandering up the centre of a busy mountain road. She looked exactly like Gina who was also rescued from this area. She stopped the car and the little girl, now named Destiny, ran up to her and let her pick her up and put her in the car. She was taken to the volunteer's home where she was de-flead and wormed. She was covered in fleas and very
malnourished with nearly all her ribs showing through. She is younger and smaller than Gina weighing in at only 7kg and about 8 months old. She is very friendly, quiet and well behaved. She has had her 4 in 1 test and passed and has also received her first vaccinations. After the Chinese New Year she will be spayed and will stay in the foster home until her vaccinations are complete. Destiny loves going on walks and walks nicely without pulling on the leash. She is good with other dogs and all kinds of people. She is now awaiting that special family to take her home. The area from where she was rescued has had intensive CNR and there are very few dogs left unneutered or spayed and so our volunteer knew that Destiny wasn't a local dog. Our volunteer will investigate further in the area to see where two identical dogs could have come from. This month we also had two lost and found dogs. The first one was an elderly dog wandering the streets of Taipei on a cold evening. A supporter contacted us about this dog who seemed lost but had a coat on. Our rescue volunteer immediately went to investigate. The dog was scanned for a chip at a vet but a chip couldn t be found. However, on arrival at the centre we re-scanned the dog and found a chip. It is very important to scan several times and all over the dog s body when rescuing a dog as the chips can move around the body. We called the owners and they were over the moon that we had found their beloved furry friend. They came immediately to the centre to pick her up. They cried with joy when
they saw her and thanked us profusely. They had been searching for several days and were beside themselves with worry about her as she is a very important part of their family. This is why chipping is so very important, it doesn t guarantee your lost dog will be found, but if he or she is then he or she can be returned to you quicker. The second lost and found was only a few days later. A terrier mix with a harness on was noticed by a tourist wandering the streets. Again the dog seemed lost and alone. When our volunteer went out to investigate, she found that the dog was severely malnourished and full of fleas and ticks. She took the dog to the vet immediately for treatment and posted on FB to see who had lost the dog. Luckily the dog s owner saw the post and contacted us. We informed the owner to get the dog chipped and also neutered to reduce the possibility of straying again. This poor fellow had been wandering for two weeks and managed to make his way from Nangan to Xinyi. The owner had been searching but never thought he would go so far. Luckily it was a happy ending. TNR/ CNR Projects ( 誘捕 - 結紮 - 原地放回 / 捕捉 - 結紮 - 原地放回計畫 ) This month we have been able to catch spay/neuter 2 males and 1 female from various CNR areas that we are monitoring.
We ve had quite a good month of adoptions this month which is surprising as the beginning of the year is usually slower for us as people are preparing for Chinese New Year and will decide to adopt once they come back from vacations. First off we d like to let everyone know about the wonderful adoption of Buddy, who is now named Yoshi. Buddy has been with Animals Taiwan for over 6 years and we could never understand why he hadn t been adopted, as he is friendly, calm and so well-behaved. Now we know why, he was waiting for his special furever home. A wonderful couple came to our centre wanting to adopt a middle aged dog preferably female as they have a male dog back in the US. When they arrived we showed them some of the dogs we had in mind for them but also introduced them to a few calm mild natured male dogs. They took the dogs for a walk and when they got back from taking Buddy for a walk they were hooked. They took Buddy home that day and they have given us nothing but positive reports. He has been a gentleman all the way through and has needed no housetraining. They can t believe how well he has done. They are preparing to go back to the US in July and will be taking Yoshi with them to meet his new furry brother!!
As we suspected Arthur was quickly snapped up. He has now gone to a loving home where he ll never worry about being tied to a lamp post and left alone. Dodoro was also snapped up this month by a wonderful family. Dodoro now has two great kids to play with and is loving a safe and loving home. Two of our cats also got adopted this month, Abby and Come On. Come On was adopted by his previous foster mommy who had to return back to the US for a while but is now back in Taiwan and had missed Come On (now named Mink) very much. Once she had found a job and a place where she could have a cat, she immediately came to pick up Mink and take her home. Mink is now settled in and glad to be where he belongs. Abby has been adopted by the same couple who adopted Angel the Yorkshire Terrier from us. They saw her posting and fell in love with her. They came to meet her and knew that she would be a great addition to their furry family. Abby has made herself at home and has made sure the two doggies understand that she s in charge.
We ve also had a few of our furry friends go into foster homes this month. April and Grover have both gone to Petaholic Pet Garden, a newly opened pet boarding facility in Taipei. They have a wonderful facility there where the dogs can run around during the day and have lovely spacious kennels to sleep in at night. They also make sure the dogs get daily walks so they expel their energy. The owners of Petaholic are also helping us promote April and Grover s adoptions. We hope that by being at the pet hotel they will have more exposure and a greater chance at finding loving homes. Maya was also lucky enough to find a foster home this month. A wonderful gentleman who will be working in Taiwan for about a year or so contacted us about fostering Maya after coming to our centre to walk dogs. He fell in love with her and wanted to help. Maya s new foster daddy will also help with promoting her adoption. Bobbie also went to a foster home just before Chinese New year and we were surprised to hear how well he behaved. His foster mommy said he just needs time to adjust. He has returned to us over Chinese New Year but we hope his foster mom can take him back in for more training and socializing. Bobbie is a wonderful little dog, he just needs time and patience to get used to people.
As we said at the beginning, this month we received donations so that we could buy kennels for our outside dogs. Every dog that spends most of the time outside now has a warm sturdy kennel to sleep and relax in. Previously we had tried wooden kennels, but they got bitten and damaged by the weather. These strong plastic kennels will last much longer and block out the wind and rain. Also as previously said we had donations of Ugly Blankets donated to us to keep our cats and dogs warm over the cold months. There have also been some updates on our animals at the centre. Gina was finally spayed after being in heat since she arrived at the centre. She also had a small hernia removed. She has recovered well and will be placed with a group once her wound is completely healed. Macaroon was hospitalized for a week due to kidney problems. He has now recovered and is back at the centre. The staff will be keeping an eye on him.
This month was also the time for the annual pet festival. This time is was at the new Yuanshan flower expo. It was an indoor four day event with many vendors and shows. We are extremely grateful to our diligent volunteers who worked very hard to get donations and sell our merchandise. Over the four days we managed to raise over NT$60,000. If you would like to hold an event for Animals Taiwan or you have ideas for events or would even like to join our volunteer list please contact liza@animalstaiwan.org for more information. Come and check out our facebook page to keep updated on regular adoptions, events and much more. As always with all our rescues we never put a dog or cat to sleep unless the animal is suffering greatly with not much chance of recovery. We will always do our best to make sure every animal is given the best treatment and best opportunity to live a happy and loving life.
We are able to continue these rescues and adoptions thanks to your generosity. Please continue check out our webpage and pass it on to any friends or family members. There are always some wonderful dogs up for adoption, so if you have any friends or family interested in adopting, please show them our website. www.animalstaiwan.org Remember Adopting saves lives! Please educate those around you to get their animal desexed and micro chipped to help decrease the stray population.