Tuesday 20 January 2009

Daisy's puppies

Hello friends!

Daisy's pupsLook at these little fellas. Aren't they adorable? They were born right here at the centre. Everyone's jaws dropped because no one knew the mother (called Daisy) was pregnant. She was brought in for sterilisation by her carer - who also didn't know - and suddenly one morning she had become the proud mother of these three lovely fluffballs! Daisy is such a small dog herself with very slender limbs and body and she was showing no signs of being just about to whelp so it escaped even the vets' attention.

DaisyDaisy is the best mummy any puppy could wish for. She's very loving and protective and pays attention to every need of the little ones. If one falls off the bed or crawls too far away she makes sure she picks it up gently and returns it to its place. She loves being taken out for walks by the volunteers but is equally keen to return to her kennel so she can look after her babies.

Everyone's biggest worry is whether or not the puppies will survive. Being so small and frail it is always risky to keep them in an environment where they are exposed to disease. Their immune systems are not developed to resist the various bacteria in the air so they are constantly at risk.

PuppyThe carer has agreed to take home the whole family once Daisy has been sterilised. As wonderful as it is to witness such a miracle right here on our doorstep we don't want Daisy to have to litter again. Every puppy born adds to an already critical dog population in Goa and unless they are sterilised in a few months they will go on to breed even more puppies without a home.

I just wish I was allowed in the kennels so I could spend some time around the pups. I love little puppies and when volunteers take some of them out to play I always tag along to see what they all get up to and join in the fun.

I'll be in touch again soon!

Lots of love

3 comments:

Unknown said...

They are so cute, I hope they survive and get to go back to their loving home!

Anne Good said...

So precious! Hope they are all placed in loving homes.

Olive said...

Tragically the pups didn't make it and Daisy herself was sick with distemper and too weak to care for them :(

Happily though she did pull through and we hope she'll make a full recovery.

The pups' sad story is just a typical example of what we are still facing in Goa in terms of pups being born to animals that are too young, too weak or too sick to feed them. Thankfully not all our stories have such a sad ending.