old friends, new faces

Tooky talks with Bobo, our shyest Taiwanese baby.

Last week Tooky, one of our 'original' volunteers, was back for a week. Although much has changed in the 18 months since she was here - not the least of which is the drastic reduction in numbers from the post-Katrina influx! - there was a wonderful familiarity in having her here. Her warm smile and laugh, her willingness to do whatever (even in the scorching heat!), her calm presence and deep love of animals.

Despite the fact it was now hot where it had been cold, that we are based in another building on the property, that our schedule has drastically changed - there was a thread of history that connected those early days with the Tara's Babies of now. Some of the doggy faces are still the same, and Tooky could see the changes in their behaviour. But it was even more subtle than that, for me at least, it was about a sense of continuity. Those early frenetic days are long gone, but remain as the roots of who we are today, and form the seeds of the future. Tooky is an invaluable part of that, for not only did she spend two weeks here right at the start, she has been a support ever since - not to mention she adopted the adorably plump and cuddly Katie, one of our rescue cats.

Tooky came here after completing a course at Best Friends in Utah, to be certified to assist in emergency situations. I am grateful to Best Friends for organising this - as in the future, without certification, people won't be able to dive in hands-on, as happened post-Katrina. Definitely something Tara's Babies volunteers need to do. And anyone else whose heart will call them to action should tragedy explode in our faces again.
We are also gearing ourselves better for any local emergency. We live in the middle of forest, in a state that has suffered from drought for over a decade. One of the tasks we did when Tooky was here was to ensure we had one crate per dog, should we need to evacuate. There has been so much coming and going of animals since we started, our system (?) had been haphazard. Now, however, we have the crates in one spot - the next step is to identify each crate with a dogs name, so that there will be nothing to think about should an emergency arise. We will create a small covered area, easy to access, where we can store them yet keep them out of the sun.

Bobo and his playmate Baby. Nunu is peeking through the back!

Bobo is very shy, but when you are able to coax him in close, perhaps with a little tug on the leash, you find he has the softest, plushest coat - more like a cat than a dog. He is such a timid little boy, yet you know underneath is a heart just yearning to love.

Baby, on the other hand, is just an imp!! Perhaps also a little shy, she however quickly turns to play - those long spindly legs doing her well as the runs around. So amazing to think she survived distemper, and was unable to walk at all for some time. She has the cutest pixie face, looks at you with shiny black eyes, and wants to play!! Sometimes she needs some help with feeding - which is a pleasurable task. She especially likes the canned food!! (Don't they all!)

That's me beneath the red floopy sunhat!

Walking with a wagging tail!

There is so much happening, we seem to be always chasing our wagging tails! I certainly have to brush up my reporting skills, and keep you informed!

Heather continues to help us move forward in leaps and bounds. With her guidance, we have shifted our schedule, so that all the 'dog care' activities - feeding, cleaning yards, water, grooming, generally making sure everything is in order, dogs are well - happen first thing in the morning. The late afternoon/evening sessions (following a break in the searing midday heat, when neither dogs nor people want to do anything!), are for walking and training. It makes such simple sense, to delineate the activities in this way. It helps streamline the process, and mentally dogs and people alike 'get' what is going on.

At the workstation. Heather (in cap) talks with volunteers Claire, Chodron and me.

In the same way, the re-arrangement of the dogs on the field is complete. For the most part, the dogs in training for adoption (called 'the walkers'!) are grouped together, and the ferals and 'lifers' are together. Especially for the walkers, their behaviours are more easily reinforced when they are surrounded by buddies also needing to listen to commands.

Volunteer Kamil convinces our fearful feral Hailey, that he really is an O.K guy!!

The 10 Taiwanese babies are in their own larger enclosures, on the upper field. We always quarantine new arrivals at a distance from the main group, any way, to ensure no sickness is introduced. We have three large luxurious runs, one with the three older, quieter dogs - Bai, Kiki and Lucky. The next has the playful youngsters Baby and Bobo, who get along famously. Then there is the fearless five - a super-playful bunch of Tiger, a gorgeous brindle, and two of the cutest black sister-sets you could imagine - Pong Pong and NuNu and PiPi and RuRu. Except in the heat of the day, they run and cavort together happily.

We are ready to play now!! Won't you come inside?!!

We have begun walking them. The more sedate ones are excellent. Some of the youngsters are OK. But for a coupe whose energy exceeds ours, a jog would be a better option! This is Pipi and RuRu, whom I featured a few posts ago. It does not surprise me Ms Wu called them the flying leapers, who loved to get over the fence and run and play! No escape attempts have been made here, but they are joyfully charged to head into the world and explore!

I went on-line and explored a bit about conditions for dogs in Taiwan - it will make you weep. I look at these lovely, happy dogs and cannot imagine the alternative fate.

Here is an excerpt of Ms Wu's most recent letter to me:

In Taiwan, few people care about dogs’ lives. Most campus stray dogs will end up being sent to detention center, waiting to be killed, or being left wander everywhere, giving birth to even more babies, which will be in the same shadow of fate. Schools should be places teaching people how to respect life, but obviously they don’t take chance to set good examples for society; therefore we can easily imagine how the street homeless animals will be treated.After I retired, I intend to transform my local association into a national organization to educate people and promote the concept of animal protection. Since I can’t adopt dogs anymore, that’s the only thing I can do. Hopefully in the rest of my life, I can witness Taiwan people change their attitude towards animals.

I found that in 1994 an investigation by the World SPCA cited Taiwan as the worst country in the world for dogs; evidence that in GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED animal facilities dogs were clubbed, buried alive, boiled alive to be killed. Things may have changed some, but there is a long way to go. This site of another rescue shows some heartbreaking stories www.savedogs.org/english/

Finding homes for these beautiful dogs and the 20 more still on death row at Ms Wu's school, and maybe even more after that, is a goal we hope to accomplish.

RuRu, still a little shy.