For those who already know, we currently have an ongoing Christmas project to help the kids of Cotlands – a non profit organisation in South Africa that focuses on the education and social crisis in Africa by organising early learning playgroups and toy libraries in under-resourced communities. More about it can be read by clicking this link: Our Profits are Going to Africa to Make Some Children Smile this Christmas. Here’s How You Can Be A Part of It.

A New Project to Help the Abandoned and Rescued Dogs of Singapore

We have created a new Christmas project and in this one, we will be aiming to help stray dogs – beautiful creatures that we have a very soft spot for.

From 25 November 2015 to 25 December 2015, we will be giving 1/3 of all sales proceeds from two of our products, R02 – Spirited Away and C14 – Doggy to Animal Lovers League.

Why Are We Helping Them?

“With a rental of at least S$20,000 per month to cover, and more than S$35,000 owed to their vet, they mostly rely on donations from the public.”

Animal Lovers League (ALL) is home to at least 700 rescued cats and dogs. These animals that were taken in have either been abused, abandoned, sick, or injured. They are also a no kill shelter. This means that all the animals under their care can enjoy the peace that they will always meals to look forward to, volunteers to mingle with and care for them, and treatment should the need arise. They will never ever have to worry about the possibility of being euthanized. ALL’s efforts to save so many animals have put them in a very difficult financial position. With a rental of at least S$20,000 per month to cover, and more than S$35,000 owed to their vet, they mostly rely on donations from the public. They also depend on dog lovers to adopt their current cats and dogs, so that they may have more space in their kennels to rescue more animals.

With so many dogs and cats to care for, it is a blessing that they do have sufficient volunteers to help out. The co-founders of the shelter, Cathy and Mohan, have never failed to compromise on their own well-being just so their animals can have a better tomorrow.

Because of their lack of space, volunteers of ALL make it a necessity to travel to areas in Singapore whereby there are many stray dogs. These dogs are fed daily, and they are often taken in to be sterilised, and then released onto the streets again. Dogs are incredibly intelligent. When they know where to expect food everyday, they keep to themselves and wait for the food to come. They do not cause trouble by hounding people with food, unlike the monkeys you see in MacRitchie. The sterilisation also helps to curb their population growth. With so little organisations in Singapore caring for our street dogs, it is important that they be sterilised.

Their only fixed income is through a boarding service they provide. It costs only 5 dollars a day and it has not been effective in making ends meet.

Most of the dogs they rescue have complicated health problems. There is no surprise to why they owe the vet more than S$35,000.

My Experience With Them

For those of you who have read our previous blog posts, you would know that we are not affiliated with ALL in any way, but we love to help. It started when my beloved Jack Russell of 16 years passed away on 2 December 2014. My family, including my helper, are big dog lovers. We decided that as dog lovers, we do not need a beautiful looking pure breed dog such as a Golden Retriever or Labrador. Any dog can give us happiness, especially if there is that certain fondness of first sight. We sourced for shelters and found ourselves at ALL. We were so inspired and touched by the selflessness of Cathy, and it was there that we found Elliot, a lovely mongrel that we have grown to fall in love with.

He has since grown into a big boy now!

A few months ago, my helper spotted a sick looking stray loitering in our estate. It was drinking from the dirty puddles of water on the roads and it looked like it needed urgent help. I managed to locate it and lure it back to my home. From there, we arranged with Cathy for it to be housed by ALL. My family paid for its bills and we named it after the street we lived at. It looked to be abandoned, due to its collar mark at its neck. It was also very domesticated, unlike a normal stray who would be very cautious of humans. His condition has since improved a lot and he’s now looking for a new home. He’s expected to be about 10 years of age. Due to his age, not many would want to adopt him. We would love to take him in if we had the resources but we will not take in any dog that we cannot care for.

I visit him at least once a week to feed and walk him, but he still looks very depressed.

There Are More Dogs that Need Help

This stray that we rescued had a catheter inserted into his private parts because he could not urinate. He was suffering badly. However, there are so many other dogs that need greater medical assistance.

Meet Ubin, a lovely stray that was rescued from a wild boar trap in Pulau Ubin. Ubin lost a leg due to being trapped, but he is so happy now. We cannot save all the dogs in the world, but we can do our best.

Please Note…

Floral Garage Singapore did not mark up any prices for our project with Cotlands South Africa and ALL. The decision to donate these profits is a personal decision made by us. If you have no one to purchase a bouquet as a gift during this festive season, and if you would like to be a part of ALL efforts, we strongly urge you to make a donation directly to them by clicking this link.

This Christmas, we want to be their Santa. Please share this post to spread the word 🙂 Thank you!