Animals Taiwan received this email a couple days ago.
[quote]Hi ANIMALS TAIWAN,
This dog was 3 days at the WuHsing Bus station standing there on the sidewalk without food or water. His left eye was bulging out, swelled 3 times the size of the other.
On Sunday I called the vet and he injected him to put him into a half sleep and we took him back to the clinic for treatment.
But now this dog, AN ABANDONED HOUSE dog needs a home fast!!! Please, if you can find one, or pass this on to others… Thanks, Curtis Smith
T. 2725-5200 ex. 2655 Cell 0987670007
ps - this dog seems well trained and extemely intelligent and would be perfect as a family pet [/quote]
If you’re scared of the phone and want Curtis’ email, you may contact me to get it.
Nice job, Curtis! I don’t think I could have walked away from a case like this either. That eye looks painful. It’s sad these hard-up dogs can be so roundly ignored by so many people. Good luck trying to find him a home.
Actually, we are currently working on improving this information. If anyone has useful information, such as how to effectively use the Chinese-language BBSes to find new owners for dogs and cats, please pass it along to me and I’ll be sure it gets to the right people, so we can organize it and distribute it widely.
It’s getting harder and harder to find homes willing to adopt animals. Unfortunately, the rate of animal abandonment does not seem to be declining.
I asked Curtis for an update, as Kage was concerned enough to ask me for Curtis’ email. Here is Curtis’ reply:
[quote]Good Morning Peter,
Thank you for your question. It’s good knowing someone has interest in the case of the one-eyed dog. Last Monday an ardent AIXINMAMA traveled up from SanChang after seeing the photo and took it to another AIXINMAMA in Muchia. I heard that she fit in perfectly well with the other five or six dogs at the home of this old lady.
At first the dogs were quite aggressive, but after the Sanchang volunteer “introduced” each dog at one time, everthing was okay.
Oh yes, let me add that after one-eye got out of the cage at the vet’s office there was quite some concern over it being able to relieve herself. That relief came after the dog was properly settled in Muchia.
The SanChang volunteer left the place only after one-eyed fell into a sound sleep on the chesterfield in the home of the Muchia AIXINMAMA.
Thanks again for your interest!
Curtis Smith
WuHsing Street, Taipei, Formosa
PS - The publication of that photo helped a lot – so here’s some extra karma for Brandy & Co
[/quote]
When I first got into animal rescue and rehoming a couple of years back, I believed that it could only take big government action, lots of money, and huge non-profit organizations to solve the stray animals problem in Taiwan. I thought that all those “crazy animal people” who feed dogs and cats in the street and try to rehome 2 or 3 at a time were just prolonging the problem.
Over the last year or so, I have met several “ai xin mamas” who pour out their heart and soul every day to help out dogs and cats in Taiwan. They do an amazing job with their limited resources, and have given many dogs and cats a new chance at a happy life.
We recently began helping out once a month at a smal private shelter in Tsaotun run by a very sweet ai xin mama. She’s retired and takes of about 30 dogs. We take her food, flea/tick meds, and give a thorough cleaning once a month. But ai xin mama is there every day, taking care of these dogs that society wouldn’t.
I have also discovered a huge network of ai xin mamas all over Taiwan. So I just wanted to one big group HUG :dance: to all of Taiwan’s ai xin mamas!
