Talk about a rock and a hard place.  Here is Dr Jean Dodd’s vaccination protocol provided to us by Dr Susanna of AsiaPaws.  Thank you for the information, it will certainly help us to make more informed decisions.  We only wish antibodies titers were more readily available in Malaysia.

People often criticise the SPCA for putting animals down but if you know the cost involved in getting any animal into a fit state for a new home, you’d hold your tongue.  It is expensive, time intensive and sometimes unsuccessful.

I am currently fostering a Border Collie called Ryan.  A couple of weeks ago, he bit me and I appealed for a home for him via Facebook and said I would have him PTS if no suitable family would take him.  Cruel? What a waste of a pedigree? Think again.  What kind of person would I be to pour resources into a dog that bites just because he is a purebred?  What of the safety of the people who take him in?  What about Ryan himself?  Will his next owner tie him up outside because Ryan bit someone?  Or will he be tossed onto the street to survive alone?  It’s all possible isn’t it?

Well, when I posted the appeal, lots of people were galvanised into action and spread the word.  I was then put in touch with a couple who have a permaculture farm in Perak.  I thought, how perfect!!!!  Ryan would love all that open space and goats.

When we started discussing taking Ryan for a visit, they mentioned offsetting my petrol costs with a FOC overnight stay.  Alarm bells tinkled.  It would cost me over RM100 to get there and back not including tolls.  If Ryan didn’t like them, I’d have made the trip in vain.    When I asked if I could bring the children, I was told yes but I’d have to pay (which is no big deal, after all it only RM75).  I then kinda realised money might be an issue and wanted to double check before making arrangements to make the trip.  So I sent a text.

—— SMS ——
To: +60109051628
Sent: Jun 17, 2010 9:31 PM
Subject: Hi,

Hi, before I make arrangements to come up, I’d just like to clarify that there is an RM350 adoption fee for Ryan. This doesn’t cover the blood tests, neutering and vet bills but will help with some of it. Am not sure if you were aware of this, so just thought better to mention to avoid any awkwardness later on. Let me know if you are still interested. Thanks.

—— SMS ——
From: +60109051628
Sent: Jun 17, 2010 11:11 PM
Subject: Hi,

Hi, sorry to inform you but the whole thing is off. We wanted to help and are not interested when somebody tries to recover expenses she had with upkeep of dog. We offered to offset petrol and inconvience for bringing the dog here and rather give a home local mongrel. Sad, you didn´t deal with us straight from beginning. Regards Ladia

—— SMS ——
To: +60109051628
Sent: Jun 17, 2010 11:17 PM
Subject: Apologies if you feel I have…

Apologies if you feel I have misled you. I have been fostering and rehoming for over 17 years and this is how we can continue our work. Also prevents ppl from taking dogs on a whim. I will be sharing this conversation on my blog and facebook for transparency’s sake. Regards, Alicia.

Now, I’m a little offended that it was implied I was less than honest.  But I understand the confusion.  So for those of you who want to spread the word, please remember to mention the adoption fee.  It serves more than one purpose.  And I wish I had a money printing press, but I don’t.

Dr Susanna

We meet Dr Susanna at Addiction’s Raw Truth talk last year and I’ll have to saw we must’ve been sailing under a lucky lucky star!  She’s a veterinary acupunturist and she has worked wonders on our pets and rescues.  From our experience, acupunture is especially beneficial for pets with chronic conditions.

Without being over effusive, it’s hard to come across a person who loves animals so much and has such genuine compassion and understanding.  After having encountered many detached and bottom line focused vets, Dr Susanna fulfills all my childhood, James Herriot fueled fantasies.

Visit her website www.asiapaws.com to learn more.

Please feel free to come and place a deposit to secure your preferred colour as stock is limited.

Today I sacrificed my principles for an easy life but came away with renewed purpose.  It seemed an easy thing to do; return Pepo and Blossom to the SPCA to await their new owner.  They will spend no more than two weeks there I was told, so it seemed the sane thing to do.

Pepo and Blossom came to be fostered by me in late November 2009.  I was told they were scheduled to be PTS unless they could find a home.  I was not in the market for another dog, never mind two.  However, since moving into the new house, I had been fostering a dog at a time for rehoming.  It was my way of doing something good as thanks to the Universe for blessing me with so very much in my life.

From the word go, they were hard to live with.  They were snappy with men, aggressive with any animal smaller than themselves (and I have two small dogs, two rabbits, two guinea pigs and several foster sugar gliders), marked compulsively and really liked the sound of their own voices.  Within 20 minutes of arriving, Blossom had bitten the tail of one of the female foster sugar gliders!  Even my 9.5 year old Sheeri mutt sighed at their impudence and imprudence. For the first time in years, I saw her curl her lips in warning.

Yet, there were moments when I could’ve sworn they were the sweetest little creatures ever.  Pepo has the most charming way of slowly insinuating himself on your lap when you take a break from gardening.  When you look down in surprise, he looks at you as if to say, “You look like you need some love”, promptly tucks his head into the crook of your arm and sighs.

Watching Blossom play basketball with the kids, you’d never think her a day older than 6 months.  She’s all skinny legs and enthusiasm.  The joy in her eyes when she noses the ball away from the kids, Shaq couldn’t have been happier.  And the way she lets Pepo hog our laps while she contents herself with resting her slightly peppered muzzled on our knee brings me to suspect strongly some kind of blood bond beyond that of mere siblings, though we will never know for sure.

After the destruction of many pairs of shoes (something which greatly pains me as I have a strict policy of only buying what I need to control my carbon footprint, and have coped with six pairs of footwear for the last four years.) I had to draw the line when Blossom began to routine attack Clifford and Chloe, Jon’s Maltese and Katelin’s Chihuahua.  On the first working day of 2010, Blossom broke skin and drew blood.  Benign Clifford shivered in fright all the way to work.  She got him on the way out, into Jon’s car as they were heading off to work.

There was no way I could defend them against that, so in a 15 second flash of cockiness, Blossom frankly broke the camel’s back.  And so I took them back with a slightly heavy heart.  Nonetheless, I felt justified in the end as they would only be there for a little while until their new owner would come to get them  She was a kindly lady who took in unwanted dogs and had a small holding in Semenyir I was assured.

But I left feeling nauseous, and tears I refuse to cry burned in the back of my eyes.  I will do something more.  The SPCA does what it can, that no one can deny.  But unless more people adopt, there is only one thing waiting for the animals in pounds and shelters.

So here are my suggestions to control the population of unwanted animals.  If there are any better ides, please share.  If you are reading this and know how to have it implemented, or who to show it too, please do!

1. State governments should enforce micro-chipping for BOTH cats and dogs.  This will allow for easy record keeping and returning of lost animals to owners.
2. Then all animals should have a license.  There should not be a limit on how many animals a family may keep provided they are neutered.  Current licensing laws made it difficult to law abiding citizens to foster and adopt as many will risk contravening some arbitrary council decision regarding the number of allowed dogs.
3. However, licensing rates should be as follows.  For neutered pets, the license should cost no more than RM5.  For intact animals over 9 months of age, each license should cost RM500.
4. Perhaps a special license or collective license could be created for breeders.  This step could reduce the number of backyard breeders as those serious about their hobby will pay.  This special license could also be awarded subject to an inspection by an independent body to ensure breeding animals are kept humanely.
5. All councils should be selective in their animal catching practices and target only intact animals.  Currently, members of the public are reluctant to practice TNR as they feel their time, money and effort will be wasted when the council catches animals that have already been neutered and tipped.

With these five steps, I think we could effectively reduce and control the number or unwanted animals in 5 years or less.  This plans allows everyone to help, from the person on the street who can only afford to neuter one dog per year, to the more affluent who would adopt more homeless animals, if legislation permitted, to the NGOs and animal rights groups to the big guys in the ivory towers.

So I’m writing to as an appeal.  Please read it with your heart as well as your eyes.  If there is anyone out there who knows how to make this a reality, please get back to me at aliciahorsley@gmail.com.  Otherwise, please forward this.  Maybe get it published in a newspaper, company magazine, school magazine or high traffic blog?  I considered providing pictures but I know that people may just want to use them as ammunition against the shelters so I will not.  At least they are doing something for the animals.  Now will you?

Her neutering was double the usual cost as she is purebred.  While I don’t disagree with Kembiri’s policy I must admit that I was a little shocked.  With the recent price increases for spaying at Kembiri and the incresing cost of living, we have decided that we need to increase our adoption fees.

Therefore, with some trepidation, we have decided the new adoption rates to be as follows

Short Haired Cats RM100

Semi Long and Long Haired Cats RM200

Purebred Cats RM300

The higher adoption fee for semi long and long haired cats reflect the extra work and maintenance required from new owners.  These cats need regular grooming, which you may have to pay for.  They can be more suseptible to skin issue, which you may have to pay for.  They may require supplementation, which you may have to pay for.  It all adds up.  If you cannot afford the adoption fee, you most likely cannot afford to maintain said cat.

The even higher adoption fee for pedigreed cats reflects all of the above as well as the added risk of breed related issues.  Almost all pedigreed cats are prone to at least one genetically influenced health problem.  These can require long term management, so if once again the adoption fee feels like too much, you’ll probably have trouble footing their medical bills too.

Some of the available designs

These ID tags are engraveable and customisable with charms.  We love the different fonts that they can do and think the quality is amazing.  Sheeri has one already and wears it with pride.  Although all our pets are microchipped, we feel having an ID tag is an excellent way to ensure the return of missing pets as not everyone will think to scan for chips.

Some fonts and symbols

So pop into the shop and ask Ollie to show you the order forms so you can put your order in today!

*Akiko is our FIV+ cat.  She was one of the first cats to come to us and she was heavily pregnant. Throughout her pregnancy, she was sickly and fragile.  When she delivered 5 little fishballs , we were delighted.  They grew each day and amazed us with their zest for life.  Perhaps they knew how little time they would have…

Just a few days short of a month, they began to die.  They would sicken and perish in the space of a mere 12 hours.  At first we thought we were doing something wrong.  When the second one died, we went to Hasnul.  He was puzzled.  By the time he fourth one died, he had diagnosed Akiko with FIV and said our last kitten would likely join her siblings at rainbow bridge.  BUT LAIKA LIVED!  And Akiko too.

At two fifteen, I called Hand N Paws to ask for Dr Jenny.  I was told she was busy but to come on to the clinic.  Her colleague refused to text me their address which I had hoped to locate with my borowed GARMIN.  I was told to call again when I had arrived at Hasnuls.  Frustrated, I packed the boys, Akiko and Noel into the car with me and made a beeline for Hasnul’s.  It began to rain heavily and I had to crawl along the highway all the while wondering if Akiko and Noel could afford the delay.

I was absolutely soaked to the bone dropping Akiko off.  Salwa said they would take care of Akiko and there was no point in my staying as she would need a drip and blood tests.  I left with a heavy heart and a sense of foreboding.  I wish I had listened to my instincts and stroked her one  last time. 

I got into the car, and called Hand N Paws but they were busy. The next twenty minutes was spent desperately trying to get in touch with them and driving towards Tropicana which they had assured me was near the clinic.  When I eventually got in touch, they were unable to direct me to thier clinic “Because most people who come to us already know the way!”.

I called Hun in desperation and she told me Dr Jenny had already left!  I was stupefied.  Impossible!  By this time, I was five minutes away, having been given a road that the GARMIN could pick up.  NOTE: Aman Suria does NOT exist in GARMIN’s Damansara.

When I finally found the clinic at four, Dr Ly, whom I had spoken to was nowhere to be seen. Dr Mervyn, eventually spoke to me, confirming that Dr Jenny had indeed gone to the doctor.  After about ten minutes, he said no one could treat Noel and that I should come back at six!  Knowing full well that I had come from Ampang, with two children and a sick exotic in tow.  

I cannot believe that he did not even ask what was wrong with Noel.

I cannot believe that they could not have compassion for a woman with two small children and two sick animals who had driven in a storm to seek help.

Isabel is a vet.  Where she practices, vets should be able to offer at least basic treatment to ANY SPECIES of animal. 

What kind of vets do we have here in Malaysia?

*Noel is holding up thanks to first aid advice from Hun.  If you need help with your glider and cannot get to a vet (or are perceived as not worthy of treatment by said vet’s colleagues) give her a call.  Her website is www.suggiesathome.com

And Akiko passed away today.

We are currently fostering  pair of wonderfully spirited little dogs.  We are hoping for some yuletide magic for them as they have long been without a family.

Pepo is almost an Italian greyhound, sans sloping hind quarters.  He is the quintessental lapdog andwould gladly spend all day curled up next to/on his favourite person, or any person for the matter!  He is very affectionate and demonstrative.  His coat is a wonderful velvet latte colour and he weighs slightly undr 3 kg and is estimated to be four years old.

Blossom is seven and looks like a Manchester Terrier.  She has a joyful and playful nature and loves playing basketball with my kids.  However, she cannot be trusted around small animals and will chase and possible harm them, so her perfect home would have to be cat, rabbit and other small animals free.

Please give these two a chance at a forever home. 

*Photos are not that great because they really are very energetic and I’m not very talented.

Photo1: Milan, the boy.  Independent and very agile and focused.

Photo2: Sicily, female.  Very elegant and has the most intriguing markings.

Photo3: Vienna, female.  Typical red and white, great with kids and great temperament.

The two girls would make wonderful pets for children or a family with kids and they are playful and patient.  Milan would be happy with or without children.  All three are in great condition and we’re really hoping for some Christmas magic for them.