What started as one of those many “let’s throw it away cause it’s not a puppy anymore” stories has had a very happy ending - at least for one dog. After being abandoned, hit by a car, and then threatened with life in a cage in a crazy woman’s animal prison, XiaoBai is now chasing rabbits over expanses of green grass during long walks in Minnesota.
A HUGE thank you goes out to Eric, without whose experience, selflessness, and insansely generous help I don’t believe this could’ve been accomplished. XiaoBai is just one of many dogs he’s helped to find better lives in the US, and he is currently working on getting another dog, Nemo the blind puppy, placed in a caring and lifelong home. Please, if anyone knows of a family in the states who would like to adopt Nemo, let Eric know! I will also be doing my best and asking around once I get back to Minnesota.
I would also like to say to all you foreigners who are thinking of heading back home without the animal you adopted (or, shudder, bought) here, DON’T DO IT. It’s a pretty simple procedure, once you know what’s entailed, and even if you yourself cannot keep the animal, it is MUCH EASIER to find a good home for it there than it is here. For instance, there are at least three people fighting over XiaoBai right now and she’s been in the states for only a week (apparently Tu Guos are considered “exotic” in Minnesota!), compared to the three months I looked for a good home for her here in Taiwan without success.
And the massively rewarding feeling you’ll get after it’s all accomplished is undoubtedly better than the huge amount of guilt you’d have to live with if you left your animal to an uncertain future in Taiwan.
Hey, don’t mention it Tmesis. You are the reason for this happy beginning! I love the update on XiaoBai. Now she can play “who get’s the dog?” What a riot! Maybe these candidates need to prepare a proposal for XiaoBai’s review detailing some of her priorities
I have excellent news about Nemo. If all goes as planned he will soon be on his way to America and for the first time in his short terrifying life he will finally have a safe and happy home. The lady in the house works at a doggie care/training center so Nemo will spend his days getting the special training and attention he needs in addition to living inside a home with a real family. Unbelievable!
Nemo has been growing rapidly now and is turning into quiite a character. You should see him do his laps on his outside porch like a mad NASCAR driver racing round and round, slamming on the brakes, crashing into the walls, bouncing back up and spinning all over the place. He entertains himself, but the poor guy needs company. So, that’s what he’s going to get with the best possible care.
Thanks for searching on my behalf, but I think the search is over. I’ll post on the Nemo thread when Operation Nemo is a smashing success.
Great news all around! And it sound like there is potential for more great news. If people in Minnesota or elsewhere in the States are ‘fighting’ over an ‘exotic’ Taiwanese dog, then why don’t we give them some more?
Of course, here in Taiwan the focus needs to be on CNR, but we run into dogs that are just too friendly or for whatever other reason we do not want to put back on the streets, but instead to live with a family.
I’m currently looking for homes for 3 dogs and we all know others are too. With Eric’s know how and all of our (if only financial) support we can make this a regular thing.
We need to find and evaluate homes in the US, which it looks like, Eric is really good at;
We need to prepare the animal in question, shots, paperwork, etc., which would be the responsibility of the person who rescued the dog, hopefully with financial help of others;
We need to find people who will take a dog as extra luggage on their flight to the US, dog’s flight to be paid by the Forumosa community and/or the US adopter?;
We need to transport the dog to the Taoyuan Airport when the time comes; least of our concerns.
Eric, what do you think? I’m also trying to set up something similar to my native country.
Hi onrust66, it sounds like you are talking about something like TAARF, or the Taipei Abandoned Animal Rescue Foundation which was formed by a TAS student named Mina Sharpe more than 10 years ago. I don’t know exactly how she and her supporters did it, but they succeeded in re-homing a lot of abandoned Taiwan dogs abroad. I don’t think TAARF exists anymore. I was able to contact Mina a few years ago after she left Taiwan, and she was kind enough to help me find a home for a dog, but after that she kind of disappeared.
I wish there was a TAARF operating. If I need to find a home for a dog, I do try to find a good home here and sometimes I can or thankfully some other kind-hearted soul here can. But, in the past year I have gotten myself wrapped up into some desperately urgent cases. A couple of gorgeous lab mixes found me just a few days apart and were costing a lot of bucks to keep afloat, a crazy woman inflicting physical and mental abuse on a sweet dog rotting in a cage was trying to steal it back in her possession, Nemo the blind pup totally lost in his dark world who may also have epilepsy…I don’t know about the others here who have found homes for dogs abroad, but yeah I cross my paws and send an SOS to friends and family and pray I get lucky. It can be exhausting, but after it’s all said and done, it’s worth it. But yeah for sure, a new TAARF would be awesome.
I do know that there are some dog rescuers who send dogs to San Francisco, but I don’t know how that works or if they know what happens to the dogs once they get over there. If someone knows more about that program maybe they can fill us in. A couple of things that you need to keep in mind though, how do you decide which dogs go abroad, because I am assuming that it’s going to be a really long line, and also, how do you account for the funds. Some dogs if they have disabilities or disease may require extra treatment. Would that be completely covered by the fund. It could get complicated. Sounds like there would have to be a decision maker(s). Don’t mean to get this off the original topic, but just throwing out food for thought.
