Turn on the news at the moment or look at your phone and it feels like the world is a very dark, sad and gloomy place. Anytime I sit down for a coffee to catch up on the real world it seems to be a mixture of fake news, polarising views or scenarios of impending doom. I thought I’d try and counter that with a blitz of good news to start the week.
Drink all this positivity in and remember that things are not always as bad as they often seem…
1. Billy Will Get His Sight Back
When Billy arrived he’d been slashed, had PTSD, brain swelling and couldn’t see. I genuinely thought we’d taken on too much as I had no idea how to fix him and he was so frantic. Fast forward 6 weeks and his improvement has been stellar.
Further tests on the 25th April to get all clear on his injuries
Operation to fix the cataracts in both eyes on the 27th April
Recovery in hospital before coming back to the land. If it all works he should ave is sight back again.
Billy will then be up adoption to his forever home
Billy is about 7-8 years old so he has a wonderful life ahead of him. The most incredible part of this story is that his operation and vet care has been covered at over $1000 by a kind person donor. Proof that not all is bad in this world.
2. Cindy Crushing Her Diet Goals
Cindy Crawford has been on a long journey and after 6 months she is starting to look and feel like a new dog. Her progress has been incredible recently…
She has lost 12.5kg or 27.5Lbs
He current weight is now 32.9KG or 75Lbs
She is in her forever home with Lana having the time of her life
She was a dog who had no future, no dignity and serious health issues. She probably wouldn’t be alive today were it not for so many humans helping her get back on her feet. Just look at that smile…
3. Big Boys Hank And Buster Find Happiness
It’s always incredibly hard to re-home dogs but when they are older big dogs and bully breeds that job becomes nearly impossible. Hank the Tank and Buster had horribly hard starts in life but incredibly we’ve managed to help both of them to beat the odds and find forever homes. Buster is a truly remarkable love story living out his life with Kitty and Hank is the happiest big boy in the world on my couch.
This photo of Buster with his new mum is everything. She is a tennis coach and Buster was the guest of honour at her ladies lunch event. From spending years of neglect on a chain to wearing a little tux. Beautiful…
4. 6000th Dog Sterilised
The stories of individual dogs are what make the mission so tangible and so special. It shows myself and everybody who follows online that a difference is being made but the real difference is happening with the mass sterilising programmes we are now funding.
Just this week we funded our 6000th operation
We now have 7 partners in 3 countries
We are speeding up the funding by the day and are now doing 2200 dogs per month.
Every single operation changes a life forever and stops dozens of puppies being born into a life of suffering. Those 6,000 operations have saved between 50,000 to 100,000 puppies being born. Thats an insane number to think about.
5. Help For Those Battling Depression And Anxiety
When I started this mission it was all about dogs and although I was open about my own battles with mental health I didn’t expect it to become such a big focus.
After getting so many kind messages and thoughtful gifts from people around the world I wanted to make a video to help those who might suffer or who know someone who does.
I made it mainly because of messages like this that I get when I am down and talk about it. Again this is something that shows not all is bad with the world. From a young girl I met last year with her mum in the UK…
6. Tina On Top Of The World
Tina’s life was not in vein. She inspired me to do great work in her name but she also drove others to better themselves around the world. I can’t help but think how proud she would have been to see her picture flying on top of the world…
2 brothers and their friend set off an epic challenge to raise money for Tina’s hospital.
Mera Peak in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas at just under 6,500m. It took them 12 days.
They raised money for Tina’s hospital and ensured that she would never be forgotten. You can read about their incredible mission and donate here.
7. Six Dogs About To Fly To Forever Homes
Finding forever homes for individual dogs will not solve the problem globally but it does give some wonderful dogs a second chance. After a lag with paperwork and medical checks we have some big departures coming up…
Mr Fox just got cleared to fly to Montana in the USA
Burn victim Eve has made a full recovery and is off to England
The scared puppies Lina and Sophie Socks have come out of their shell and will travel to England.
Tina’s little adopted puppy Solo will travel to Belgium
Toffee is heading to Edinburgh in Scotland
Again from adopters, to volunteers and everybody involved in getting them to their homes this shows what kind people will do to change lives for the better.
There are two main points I’d love everybody to take away from reading this…
More kindness in the world than hate. Look how many people are adopting dogs. Climbing mountains to raise money. Paying to give a dog it’s eyesight back. Kids writing kind letters. Dozens of people sterilising 1000s of dogs. The examples I have listed above are the tip of the iceberg in terms of what I see. If you look the world is actually full of kind people.
Individuals can make a difference. None of us can solve nuclear warfare issues, end poverty or eradicate diseases alone. The bad things can seem overwhelming. What we can do is small acts of individual kindness that make a huge difference. For example Kitty adopting Buster has changed his world forever. Individual actions add up to a better world.
I hope some of the little stories above put a smile on your face. They show me that even though the global mission to save street dogs is a huge and seemingly daunting one, it is a mission that we can achieve. Thank you all so much for supporting and making the wins for the dogs possible. It means so much.
Have a wonderful start to the week wherever you are.
Big Love
Niall
P.S You can always support by either donating here or just subscribing to this
The first thing I do each day is check in on Happy Doggo Land and the team (human and doggo). Then I check the updates for the other dogs around the world. It’s a bright spark to each morning.
While I have four rescue dogs, in the last few weeks I’ve been trapping and rescuing kittens on the farmland around my home.
When I trapped a little boy, I took him to the vet for a checkup (all good!) and the Irish-born vet (I’m in New Zealand) asked me if I had a name. And I realised I did - so Niall the kitten joined the family.
It’s such an honour to be part of this community. Much love to Niall and team from my Niall and family
Love your updates Niall. It made me cry - happy tears. You are so right, there are so many positives to focus on. Your page brings me and so many of your followers so much joy - it’s literally the first thing I do when I wake up every morning - thank you x