Animal welfare group shines spotlight on stray dogs

“A wreck”, “undernourished” and “bleeding” -- that was the state of Cass, a five-year-old Border Collie mix, when rescuers found her at Tuas South on 20 August last year.

Sharon Oh, 52, one of Cass’s rescuers, recalled, “We found her with three of her puppies. She had seven, but the rest had passed on.”

Oh, a founding member of animal welfare group Exclusively Mongrels Limited, took the dog in, cared for her and eventually adopted her.

While Cass was finally “relieved to be in a domestic home surrounding” knowing that “her puppies were cleaned and kept warm”, it was just the beginning of a long arduous six-month journey for Oh and her husband to nurse Cass back to health.

Medical examinations of Cass and her pups at the veterinary clinic the day after they were rescued revealed that the bleeding was caused by a vaginal tumour which was about the size of a 50-cent coin. The vet said the tumour was likely caused by a sexually transmitted virus. The dog had to have chemotherapy to fight the cancer.

Cass, which the vet estimated to be four years old then, was also underweight at 17kg and suffered from tick fever, which will affect her heart and liver if untreated.

Fortunately, the three surviving pups were healthy, but undernourished. They weighed 1.2kg each.

Unique dogs

Set up about a year ago by Kevin Neo, a 37-year-old programme director in loyalty marketing, 43-year-old Jason Ong, owner of a cafe, and Oh, Exclusively Mongrels provides medical support and food for stray mongrels which are found in difficult conditions.

Believing in tackling the problem of stray dogs in Singapore through sterilisation, the group has provided assistance to sterilise over 60 strays in around a year. It has also rescued about 20 strays. Those mongrels that are deemed unsuitable to return to the wild are re-homed.

They believe “one of the best features of mongrels is that they are each completely unique”.

Challenges for all
 
The work of these rescuers doesn’t end when a stray is picked up. For example, in Cass’s case, nursing her back to health was a challenging process and tough decisions had to be made.

Oh, a homemaker with five dogs in her household currently, said “it’s a whole new chapter” each time they “rescue a dog that is ill”. The volunteers have “to learn and understand the illnesses”.

She read up a lot on the dietary requirements and supplements that Cass needed. Unlike normal dogs, Cass could not have a carbohydrate diet, thus Oh had to make her own treats for Cass with a dehydrator. Cass also eventually underwent six sessions of chemotherapy to fight her cancer.

The cost of the treatments was also another burden to bear. According to Neo, about S$4,500 have been spent on Cass’s medical bills from the moment she was rescued till March this year. But Oh said, “What was more costly was her (Cass’s) supplements and the feeding of quality food to prepare her for chemo.”

Fortunately, Oh and her husband received donations, from friends, relatives and supporters of Exclusively Mongrels, to cover the vet bills.

Still, the couple had to contribute money from their own pockets to pay for food and supplements. Oh said Cass was “very blessed” as many people bought her diapers, bedding items, toys for her puppies and even an expensive box of ginseng.

Cass also needed a lot of emotional support. Oh said, “She had very low moments initially when she was in pain.” Oh added that Cass “lost her appetite”, “had to wear diapers” and was “uncomfortable”. Oh and her husband had to try all sorts of ways to make Cass happy and emotionally strong, and encouraged her to eat so as to build up her strength to withstand the chemotherapy sessions.

That eventually paid off as Cass reacted to the chemotherapy really well, with hardly any side effects, such as nausea and vomiting. The dog eventually recovered and weighs a healthy 25kg now. Her puppies will be a year old come August and they’ve been adopted into loving homes.

Misconceptions of mongrels

Oh has been actively involved with dog rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing for the last eight years. Her family, who has had mongrels in their home since her childhood, always believes that mongrels are “unique, hardy and smart”. Upon retirement from a career in the food and beverage industry, Oh, having no children, thought she should dedicate herself to re-homing and feeding stray dogs.
 
While it takes a lot of time and effort to rescue a dog and nurse it back to health, Oh said “her sacrifices are nothing”. She feels that the most fulfilling aspect of helping mongrels is that she can “give them shelter”. Oh said that many people are unaware but there are around 8,000 stray dogs in Singapore, commonly found at construction sites. So she hopes more people will open their homes to adopting rather than buying dogs from the store.

Homeless mongrels are a group that faces double oppression. Not only do they have to fend for themselves in the wild, it is difficult for them to be adopted after rescue due to public misconception.

“People tend to think that mongrels are ugly. They don’t have the fluffy fur that their pedigree cousins have,” said Oh. “But many people fail to realise that mongrels are actually very hardy and resilient.” Oh also said that mongrels don’t require as much medical maintenance as pedigrees.

Oh also mentioned misconceptions that crossbreeds can’t be trained, something which she disagreed, adding that “that’s what obedience schools are for”.

Oh described Cass’s temperament as “very good”, “gentle” and “playful”. In addition, Cass and the other female rescued dogs in her house are good “foster nannies” for rescued puppies which she takes in.

Many strays are not always, simply, strays, but in fact, could be abandoned dogs. For instance, Oh doesn’t think that Cass was always a stray as she understood some basic commands and had fairly clean teeth and ears when they found her – signs that she could possibly have had an owner before.

How you can help

Exclusively Mongrels regularly collaborates with other animal welfare groups, such as Animals Lovers League and Save Our Street Dogs, as well as independent rescuers to hold adoption drives to re-home stray mongrels.

During the adoption drives, it also sells items such as T-shirts and handmade jewelleries. Sometimes, Exclusively Mongrels does online auctions of cakes to raise funds for sterilisation programmes and sick dogs. You can visit its Facebook page to find out more about the latest adoption and donation appeals.

That said, most donations are insufficient to cover vet bills. Thus, the charity says that any form of support is always welcome, be it in the form of corporate sponsors, adopters of their rescued dogs or simply the sharing of Exclusively Mongrels’s Facebook posts.

Oh says, “The greatest poverty is being unwanted and unloved, so I hope more people can embrace stray mongrels in Singapore with extraordinary and tireless love, and be faithful to them.”

Yahoo! Singapore 9

Singapore 9 is Yahoo! Singapore's annual National Day honours project. Back for the third time running this year, we are honouring nine charities in Singapore in the lead-up to the nation's birthday on August 9.  Join us to Change A Life!

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