Search the Community

Hi all. Today I will be sharing a little something about what I've been quite involved in of late, especially since a passing of a very beloved furkid. And that is, the adoption and rehoming of stray dogs in Singapore. To those who are already dog owners out there but still have space at home, in your heart and abundance of love for another furkid, to those whose furkids have crossed the rainbow bridge but are now ready to love again... I appeal to you! I will be posting from time to time, dogs that are up for adoption here from various rescue groups, and also appeals for fosterers while the rescue groups find forever homes for them. If you are able to help, please do. If not, sharing the post to those who might be able to help would be very appreciated! What's Singapore Specials? This may be a term familiar to some, but unfamiliar to many. Singapore Special is a dog that is bred on the streets, a product of generations of varieties of different breeds of dogs. The Singapore Specials are the street dogs, free breeding dogs, the dogs we loosely call 'Mongrels' before 'Singapore Specials' came about. The stigma against these pups are real. Most people are afraid of them, mainly because of their size. They're mistakenly portrayed to the public as "ferocious", untrained, and with the tendency to attack humans. The 'uneducated' and 'prejudiced' will shun these mongrels, and only fancy the pedigree dogs. What happens to the strays then? Due to discrimination faced by these dogs (low adoption rate), our shelters are overwhelmed with them. Some of these dogs never made it out of shelters their entire lives and spend almost all their time confined to tiny spaces. They are grateful and excited when volunteers come in each week to bring them out - the only time they may spend outside of the shelter which they now call home. Some are taken in by kind fosterers because a shelter is not exactly a very good environment to grow up in. Many of these fosterers will eventually become their adopters as they grow older and chances of getting adopted gets lower and lower. Due to the size of these pups, most of them are also not eligible to stay in HDB flats hence making their adoption rate even lower. TEMPERAMENTS & TRAITS of the Singapore Specials Since most of them have been rescued off the streets, industrial parks, and are not domesticated, they may have trust issues or certain personality traits that are genetic. They are smart, can be house trained, but will require lots of time, patience and a forgiving heart. Most importantly, lots of love to give. Many of these rescue dogs also comes with separation anxiety (sometimes aggression as they are not used to humans) and may be prone to barking, whining, all of which will need time to condition and overcome with training. HEALTH Now, since they are of mixed heritage, usually the Singapore Specials are a healthy bunch of dogs and may require lesser veterinary attention than the expensive purebreeds. PROJECT ADORE (ADOption and REhoming of dogs) Project ADORE was started in April 2012, as a pilot by the Ministry of National Development (MND), Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and Housing and Development Board (HDB) to assess the acceptance of mixed-breed dogs in HDB estates if proper safeguards were in place. Taken from: https://www.mnd.gov.sg/our-work/engaging-our-communities/project-adore Today, Project ADORE is supported by Animal Welfare Groups (AWGs) – Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD), Save our Street Dogs (SOSD), Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Exclusively Mongrels (EM) and Causes for Animals (CAS). Under Project ADORE, HDB flat owners can adopt local mixed breed dogs, also known as Singapore Specials, which are up to 15 kg in weight and 50 cm in height. These limits are comparable to the size of toy breeds allowed in HDB flats. Interested adopters are allowed to keep only one dog per flat and have to abide by stringent ownership conditions, including the sterilisation, routine vaccination and micro-chipping of the adopted dog. New owners must also apply for an AVA dog licence for the adopted dog. In addition, new owners will have to enrol their dogs for obedience training courses at the point of adoption, and sign a Code of Responsible Behaviour (CORB) which includes requirements to ensure that their dogs do not cause nuisances to the neighbours. To qualify under Project ADORE, your dog will have to: Be a local medium-sized mixed-breed or “Singapore Special” Be at least 6 months old and sterilised Have a maximum weight of 15kg and shoulder height up to 50cm Undergo compulsory basic obedience training by AVA-accredited trainers Places you can adopt from: These are just some of the shelters/rescue groups that I am aware of and can remember at this point. There are also many individual stray feeders etc who feed strays on a daily basis and even rescue+rehome pups. When I say pups I mean dogs in general, not just puppies. All puppies grow up really fast anyway. Don't adopt puppies just because they're cute. I'm sure you've heard this very often but we can't remind enough. For some, once the novelty of having a pup or new dog dies down, they don't receive as much love anymore. So before you adopt, please make sure you're ready for a lifetime commitment! Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD) Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD) Exclusively Mongrels Causes for Animals (CAS) Animal Lovers League (ALL) Purely Adoptions Chained Dog Awareness Singapore Hope Dog Singapore Mercy Light Adoption Voices for Furbabies A Stray's Life Paws Angels This thread is getting too long and I'll have to end off abruptly here for now. To be continued...

who going to sign up?

This article is taken from Pink Dot website hor, homophobia please stay out hor. btw, I am straight. I am just curious to read more on Pink Dot I didn't know MCYS allows adoption by same sex couples. Honestly, mayb I have some homophobia in me, isn't it inappropriate for same-sex couples to adope children? What kind of family values will the child get? They call their parents Papa and Papa? 2 men taking care of their kids together. P.S: my homophobia only limited to guy-guy. I am perfectly fine with girl-girl. But again, what kind of values will girl-girl couple teach their adopted children? Mama and mama? ---------------------------------------- SOMEDAY, TODAY, NOW! Posted on June 8th, by Pink Dot Sg in Pink Dot 2012, Someday. It is not “someday”, but today. My best friend and her husband, both devout Christians, are happy now that their lesbian daughter (in her late thirties) has found a loving, supportive partner for life. Their daughter and her partner live with the partner’s family, and the couple visit and dine regularly with my friend and her husband, like any good, married daughter and her spouse. A few months back, my former student took me out for lunch, and told me about his long-term partner, who is English. The two men, who work in the medical field, have been together for more than 12 years, and his good news is that their families have accepted their relationship. My former student’s family is Singaporean and Catholic, and his partner’s parents are English and Anglican. Since we were having a Japanese lunch, we toasted his good news with sake. A few years ago, I had a similar happy surprise when I met a former nun and her partner at a tai chi class. The couple told me that they have been together for more than 15 years. With the blessing of their Catholic families and friends. My heart leapt. What wonderful, loving families they have. Since the publication of my book, “The Lies That Build A Marriage” and the TV film, “The Morning After”, I have had the opportunity to meet several gay and lesbian couples who have been together for several years, some for as long as 25 years, which makes it a union much longer than many marriages between a man and a woman these days. One such couple I had the good fortune to meet are two highly talented musicians in their early fifties who celebrated their 25th anniversary three years ago. Both men had met when they were young twenty-somethings. Today they are a mature, loving couple, and it is such a joy for me to be in their company as I listen to the music they produce with their eyes, their laughter, and their gestures. And I can’t help but wish and pray that some day, my son will have a long-term relationship like theirs. I know some time this year I will be drinking a toast to their 28th anniversary. There is another gay couple I know in Singapore who have been together since their varsity days. The two men are highly respected professionals in their mid-forties, and they are quietly bringing up their three lovely children with the support of their parents and extended families. These two long-term relationships remind me of my family’s amah and her life-long partner. The two women shared a home in Jalan Besar and adopted a daughter who became my playmate. As a child, I was fortunate to have had such a loving amah who took me to her home when she went back to visit her partner and their daughter. During such visits, I don’t remember my superstitious, temple-going mother ever making a fuss about sin and morality. My amah and her partner lived together till death parted them, and I celebrated their life-long devotion to each other in my short story, “My Two Mothers.” Today, these loving, long-term, gay and lesbian relationships in our midst are often hidden from view. When more of them become visible to the public, there will be no need to turn pink every year. Some day we will not need a pink dot to clamour for social acceptance. Some day, the heterosexual majority will feel secure enough about their own values and morality to accept the gay and lesbian relationships in their midst, without feeling threatened. It will happen. It is already happening, albeit quietly, for real change takes place below the radar and twitter of the Internet and the media. Today, there are already many families in Singapore who have accepted (often without much fuss) the long-term gay and lesbian relationships of their children, siblings and relatives. For deep down, most of us in the heterosexual majority can see beyond the sexual orientation of our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, cousins, uncles and aunties. Deep down, we see beyond the laws of church and country. It is not so much the social acceptance and legal freedom to love, but the fidelity and the commitment to each other to work at nurturing our partnership for the long haul that transforms a couple’s relationship (whether it is heterosexual or LGBT) into a marriage.

I found a tortoise (the shell is 18cm in length) by the road. I suspect it was abandoned and brought it home. Anyone wants to adopt this critter? Please PM me. I intend to release it in a fresh water pond tomorrow night (late) if there are no takers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws_49pzL_QM How many here can clear so fast?

no wonder the slightly better of families in KL send their kids to private colleges.

Hi guys. I'm looking to score points with my father-in-law who recently killed his 12 year old terrapins. They were bigger than an adult male's hands - 18cm in length and 15cm in width. I want to adopt or perhaps buy terrapins of that age and/or size. Any brothers here with lobang to assist? Not looking for the illegal kinds la unless there's lobang for those too. Please advise. Thanks so much!