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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...