21.8.11

Harry - He's Simply Amazing!


Harry had his surgery on Saturday morning, to extract his canine (tooth). When I visited him at 2pm, he was still a little drowsy from being under GA but he wagged his tail hard in the cage and wanted to come out. I then took him out for a walk and for the next two hours, Harry had a steady stream of visitors. Even Kenneth, Harry’s care-giver, came to see if he was alright.
The extracted tooth
Fussing over Harry and fitting on his collar
Friends and our blog readers came to meet Harry. He was a good host and brought all his visitors round the block many times!  Despite being hot, tired and in slight pain, he wanted to keep walking and he enjoyed the outdoors.
Ai Wei, Delphine and Lisa cleaning Harry's ears
Volunteers had promised Harry that if he survived the surgery, they would take him to the beach for a walk – so when Harry is discharged this morning, he will be heading straight to the beach, for the first time in his life!
Harry having a meeting with his fans.
Cindy and Hailey giving Harry lots of pats!
After the beach, Harry will be going to a foster home where he will receive lots of TLC and recover. He needs to put on quite a bit of weight. He is now clear of hookworms!
When he has fully recovered, Harry will resume his weekly chemotherapeutic drugs.
We will continue to give updates on Harry and would like to thank everyone who has contributed to making the world a better place for Harry. Thank You!
Harry - Our Hero
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When I learnt about Harry and how he had been chained up for years, I thought to myself that it was no way for an elderly dog like him to live. When I'm old, I want to be out on a balcony soaking up the sun, surrounded by loved ones. Poor Harry had no one to love, and no one to love him. He spent his days alone, lying under a lorry on the sixth floor of a factory building. Then I found out he had all sorts of illnesses as well - heart murmur, water in his lungs, bad legs, and even cancer. Anyone dealing with so much pain needs some serious loving in their life to make things better. When Fiona told us we could visit poor Harry after his dental surgery, I just had to go down to show him some love.

Elena walking Harry
Harry was sitting outside the vet's office on the grass when I arrived. He had several volunteers looking after him, cleaning him, and patting him. I could tell he was glad that he was being showered with attention, but he was also quiet and reserved. It seemed like he had suffered too much in his life to know how to truly be happy. The volunteers took turns taking him for walks, and although his legs aren't too good, he was so excited to be out on the grass that he just kept going and going non-stop for a good 2 hours! He loves bushes, and would keep going in and out of them. He is such a curious dog.

One thing that struck me was that Harry never once wagged his tail, and there was no spark in his eyes. It seemed to me like he was really happy to be out, surrounded by people who cared for him, but yet he didn't dare to enjoy himself too much. No matter how many pats or how many walks he got, we couldn't elicit a single tail wag or a joyful bark out of him. It was as if he couldn't trust that this would last, and that he would soon have to once again return to a life of loneliness living under a lorry.

Poor Harry deserves someone to love him forever, to take care of him for the rest of his life. He shouldn't be living out his last days alone, hiding in a factory. He needs to know that there's someone who will always be there to care for him. I hope that one day soon, he will be able to find someone who can take away the pain in his eyes and give him the hope and happiness that he never had. 

The above was written by Elena Lin, a young student volunteer who has been a volunteer in animal welfare for some years, mainly helping with computer related work. Harry moved her so much that she had to make a trip down to visit him today, her very first time visiting a rescued dog.