Ah... holidays! What a glorious three weeks spent with our loved ones Down Under. Yet our pooches in KL were never far from our minds. The languishing lifestyles of dogs in Australia - playing catch in free range parks, splashing in the surf at the beach - only made us sadder that the same opportunities were not readily available here.
Constructing a park or beach may be a bit beyond our limitations, but at the very least we were determined to learn some trade secrets from Australian animal shelters. The two we contacted were thrilled to oblige, and meeting the people there became the best Christmas present we could have wished for.
The
K9 Dog Rescue Group is a small volunteer-run refuge in Mandurah, a town just over an hour south of Perth in Western Australia.
With space for around twenty-five dogs, K9 gives pooches who are on death row at the local pound a second chance, caring for them until they are rehomed.
Understanding that exercise is essential for a dog's wellbeing, volunteers adhere to a strict roster so that each dog is either walked or let free in a large play area daily.
A maximum of two dogs per pen is permitted during the day.
At night, dogs are secured in individual pens where they sleep on a raised bed till breakfast time the next morning.
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| (left to right) Casey, Carley, Tess, "Hank" and Sharon |
The team at K9 are so efficient that the longest a dog has ever taken to be rehomed is nine months! Most find their forever homes within four to eight weeks, after an extremely thorough screening process that includes a four page questionaire for potential adopters and a meeting with the entire family.
Our second visit was to
Swan Animal Haven (or "Swan Animal Heaven", as we like to call it), situated on three acres of bushland in the Swan Valley, Western Australia.
Sylvia is the Vice President of the volunteer committee and has run SAH for twenty years. When asked why she chooses not to have more than eighty dogs on such a big property, she replies,
"I find when you accept more than a certain number, the quality of care goes down. As hard as it is, we must turn people away at times because otherwise it's not fair to the dogs we already have."
Dogs at SAH spend the bulk of their day roaming and basking in spacious yards, some big enough to build a house on.
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| Stephanie in the dogs' favourite room - the kitchen! |
At mealtimes they are herded inside to eat and to get lots of cuddles.
After a good feed, the dogs are out enjoying natural surroundings until nightfall, when they retire to their own brick pens.
Though their lives are comfortable now,
all these animals are victims of cruelty or abandonment. Sylvia shares a
few of her experiences:
Whether
you live in Malaysia or overseas, please spare a thought for dogs in
need and the volunteers who care for them. Donations of money
and kibble are always appreciated, but also give of your TIME to walk,
bathe and feed those that others have so callously thrown away.
Above all - adopt, don't buy. And encourage everyone you know to do the same.
We noticed this Dalmatian mix in a group pen at the animal shelter. Surrended two weeks before Christmas, he was one of the tallest dogs in the pen but, because of his gentle personality, was being bullied and bitten by the other dogs. He looked so similar to Romeo, one of our other rescued pooches, that he immediately earned the name "Romeo The Second". 
"Lola" was the remaining survivor of a litter of six pups we rescued from The Temple of Doom. Weakened by their birth in filthy surroundings, her siblings died from an intestinal virus. With the help of foster carer Christine, we hand-reared Lola from the age of four weeks, watching her grow from a helpless, anaemic pup into a bouncing ball of energy. 
