12 May 2012 I read about the physical and psychological trauma inflicted on strays when they were captured by AVA. I saw pictures of these traumatized dogs curled up in a corner. I thought I was mentally prepared when I went to visit brown dog. Because his regular feeder and rescuer did forewarn me about his traumatized state. But experiencing it first hand was very different. Emotionally, it's very heartbreaking.  When brown dog saw us, he retreated back to his corner and curled up, as if we were strangers to him. Yes, we are not as close to him as his regular feeder. But he usually associates us with yummy food (I hope). I brought his favourite grilled kunning. A tupperware full of grilled kunning. I opened up the lit and let him smell. The usual brown dog would immediately take a bite. This time he didn't. I took out one fish, put on his bowl. He didn't eat at all. In fact, his bowl was full of food which he hasn't eaten. I saw that he is shivering. His legs were shaking. He was so scared. I tried to pat him to calm him down. It didn't help. I retreated back and left him alone. Vincent tried to make friend with his irritating neighbour (who was barking non-stop) by offering food. The fella became friendly to Vincent and stopped barking. That's when brown dog started to lay down a bit, but still looking tentative. Over at Ginny's kennel, things were sunnier and more normal. Ginny was actually captured together with brown dog on the same trip. We were not surprised to learn from her rescuer that Ginny actually dashed out of her 'residential' compound when AVA's dog catcher called her. The construction worker whom Ginny is really close to has gone home for 3 months to get married. The other worker failed to get a call-back attention from Ginny when the dog catcher lured her out. What angers us the most was that the dog catcher actually offered to be bribed to return Ginny to the worker. $200 was the price, we were told by her rescuer. Of all the dogs in that area, Ginny is the sweetest, gentlest, and friendliest dog. And most important of all, she's spayed. What purpose does it serve for the dog catcher to capture Ginny? Isn't this a total waste of money, time and resources? What an unprofessional dog catcher whose motive is obviously nothing to do with stray population control. When we arrived at Ginny's kennel, she was right at the entrance because she was just being caught from escaping out from the kennel. She was not happy, but this good temperament dog was still friendly to us.  Vincent gave her some grilled kunning to cheer her up. It worked! Her tail went up and wagged! We tried to walk her on leash. I believe that was her first time walking on leash. She's not very 'mobile' on leash. I've seen her more carefree than this.   Ginny was so reluctant to go back to her kennel. We have to half push and half carry her back. I absolutely hate doing this to her. It's a shame that these strays instantly lost their freedom after just a wrong move of trusting someone they shouldn't have. But it's hard to ask these innocent dogs to judge. That's the very character that makes them so special. We will try to rehome these two darlings when they are ready. |
Home >
