Nobody every rings or messages me with good news. It’s the nature of helping street dogs that the news is overwhelmingly bad. Most people know to message me as I’m not keen on talking, so when I get a phone call I know It’s usually very serious.
I got one such call on Tuesday morning… “Mr Big has bitten his owner”.
It’s been one of those weeks and I wanted to pick out three of the many tough decisions and situations we’re dealing with to help understand what we do with the street dogs…
1. Tough Decisions - Leo Messi
If you follow me on social you’ll no doubt have seen Leo Messi come in. It’s been a crazy 8 days for this beautiful boy…
Caught in the jungle with a severed paw (possibly a motorbike accident or trap)
He was way too weak for an operation and needed 3-4 weeks recovery
Sybille has been working wonders changing his bandages daily
He moved into my house as he took a little turn for the worse
In the last couple of days he started to get incredibly stressed. Below is my house after I left him alone to go and get a coffee. It was like a murder scene when I got back. So now…
We’ve had advice from 6 vets and they were split on operating on him. Some said we should do so immediately and while others said he was too weak and could die.
While he is too weak to be operated on he was also going downhill health wise.
After a long sleepless night and lots of thinking myself and Sybille decided that he should have the operation.
Leo might not survive. His life hangs in the balance as I write this. We’ve made the decision we think is right and are hopeful.
2. When Bad Things Happen To Good People / Dogs
It’s quite rare that cases get to me but this beautiful little girl with the lovely “toupee” fur colour really got me this week. She’s living with 2 women in an incredibly impoverished area. They are wonderful carers for this street dog but…
She had been slashed by someone in the area. The cuts are clearly intentional
She has a prolapsed uterus (you can see in the 2nd pic)
We’ve gotten her to the vets and treated her wounds and she is recovering with us
The hard part here is what to do with her in the future. She belongs to the 2 women who reached out to us. They care for her very well and love her. That was immediately clear. But how can I send her back knowing the attacker is still in the area?
I still don’t have the answer.
This one really got me because of how nice the dog was, how kind the ladies were to her and how absolutely senseless but targeted the abuse on her was. Somebody pinned her down and chopped those legs on purpose.
3. Mr Big Is Back With Us
The thing you quickly learn with helping dogs is that monumental highs are often followed by instant lows. That was the case this week with Mr Big. He got a new home and a new name (Henry) as he headed off on a 600 mile journey. We were all elated and his story was a huge positive. He’d made it.
Thats when the phone rang…
Mr Big bad bitten his new owner
It happened when being introduced to their dogs
Mr Big has never shown one aggressive tendency before this
We think the long journey, new surroundings and general panic caused it
His owner had to go to hospital to get the wound treated.
You never get used to the crushing feeling. I felt bad for the owners, for everybody who’d worked to make this happen and also for Mr Big. We immediately swung into action to get him back to us.
It’s one of those situations where it’s nobody’s fault (certainly not the new owners who loved him and did everything by the book perfectly). Mr Big arrived back and is settling back in. It will of course now be incredibly hard to adopt him out. Just a sad moment for everybody after such happiness.
Zooming Out Is Key
As you can see above the individual battles and decisions can be absolutely brutal. Like getting punched in the face over and over. They can consume you and leave you feeling deflated. There are about 10-15 other similar situations I have in my head right now.
While they are going on the key in terms of staying positive is to zoom out and look at the bigger picture….
18,000th dog has just sterilised
We moved from feeding 800 dogs per day to 1000 per day
We’ve re-homed 25 dogs in 2024 already (Mr Big would have been the 26th)
We are very close to our finalised Tina’s hospital plan. We are at a new level of detail with these (below)
There are 17 sick or recovering dogs at Happy Doggo land having their lives changed for the better right now.
While the individual cases and decisions are tough we are now helping literally 1000s of dogs a month and creating plans to help 10,000s a month. Zooming out is key.
Mentally This Is Incredibly Draining
I set out this week to have a focus on admin. Things like accounts, building the team and growing the structures we need to achieve our ambitions. Every single plan I had for the week has been wiped away by a deluge of stress, worry and unexpected problems.
I can’t explain how hard it is to sleep when decisions you take could impact individual dog’s lives. They might not be pets but Leo Messi was sleeping beside my bed this week crying in pain. That weighs on you.
What I always think about though is how blessed I am to be doing this. I couldn’t wish for a more meaningful life. These dogs don’t have many options. The individual days or weeks might be tough and progress often feels slow but I am dedicating my entire life to this. Every waking second of every single day. The losses and the knocks will continue to come but the wins are outweighing them literally by 100x now.
Theres no time to be sad or down or emotional about it. Theres a big body of work to do and I’ll make sure I get it done.
Thanks for all the support as always. I don’t mean to sound negative in this email but it is just my reality and there is plenty of good news in there too. I couldn’t do it without all the online support. I’m tired, but there is nothing else I’d rather being doing in the world right now.
Have a lovely day everybody.
Big Love
Niall
P.S You can always support by either donating here or just subscribing to this newsletter.
Thank you for sharing the stories warts and all. It’s hard to understand the pressures and difficulties when you are thousands of miles away and feel the emotions but not the reality. Whatever is the outcome for Leo Messi Mr Big and the other dogs they are still better off than before and have know the love and care of you and your team. As supporters we can only give donations and comments to show our support and thanks that so many dogs are better off. Take care of your self amidst all of the many things that are happening thank you
I can barely imagine the stress you live with day and daily caring for these dogs. It never ceases to amaze me how you and Sybille and Lana and the rest of the team manage to turn these furry friends’ lives around. The changes in their physical and mental health are so apparent so quickly after you take them under your wing. You’re working miracles in Thailand and further afield, Niall. Never doubt the way you have changed and inspired lots of people as you go about your work. Your example and your love of animals has encouraged others to be proactive in animal welfare too.
I’m very excited about Tina’s hospital now! Every day a step closer to realising this dream. Keep strong, Niall but remember to look after yourself in the middle of it all ❤️