How You Help Me

There will never be a flip flop shortage again

It was the 17th of January when I started feeding my first dog and embarked on this journey. I didn’t have any big strategic plan except for feeding dogs and sharing some Happy Doggo content. What has happened and grown since then is really beyond my wildest dreams.

I thought it would be a good time to take stock and share some of the highlights from the last couple of weeks…

100 Dogs Sterilised In 6 Months

I started sterilsing dogs on the on the 1st April. It took me a full 6 months but I broke the hundred barrier a couple of weeks ago. It’s a slow and arduous process but it stops 1000s of puppies being born and mums suffering.

Catching them, getting their operations, giving them medicines and taking their stitches out were all new to me and I had a lot to learn.

1000s Of Dogs Saved In One Weekend

I felt I was making some progress with sterilising the dogs but the puppies kept appearing. So I wanted to try something bigger and more impactful. Just this past weekend we were able to get 85 dogs sterilised in 3 days. With the help of RobsDogs, a team of vets from the mainland and dozens of volunteers we did the operations in a local temple.

It was a big stressful thing to be part of logistically for everybody but this is the type of large scale solution that is needed. I was blown away by the kindness and compassion for animals on show from everybody involved especially considering everybody was giving their time for free.

Saving My Hero - McMuffin

On the 26th of August I found one of the sickest dogs I’ve ever come across when a man handed me a beagle that was a day or two away from death. She was so bad I had decided during the night to have her put down. She was covered in cancerous tumours and her vitals were so bad it looked like a lost cause.

6 weeks of medical care later including chemo and lots of vet support and she has made a miracle recovery. She is the mascot of what I want to do with street dogs and proof that we should never give up in life. If you need a lift I’d urge you to read her thread here.

A Home For Dogs In Need

I was spending way too much time driving sick animals around and having to put them back into very tricky situations on the streets. I was also spending a small fortune on keeping dogs in vets and various other places that needed paid. The only logical thing to do was find some land and build a little safe spot for the sickest and most needy dogs to recover. This is it.

It was supported by Tay and the GG who surprised me with a random act of kindness one day. The amount of dogs this place will save over the coming months and years will be insane.

Changing People’s Perception Of Street Dogs

The thing that has surprised me the most about sharing the story of the dogs is how a community has built around it of people willing to help and spread the word. I have absolutely no way of measuring it but I am 100% sure that some people are being kinder to dogs as a result.

For me the most exciting thing is the amount of parents who contact me saying their kids watch along with breakfast every morning. I still have to pinch myself at that thought because that could possibly be shaping a young mind for their entire lives to be kind to dogs.

I’m only one person but if we could grow this little army of people being kind to dogs it could have a huge impact. Maybe we could all be as kind as this little gentleman…

How Have You Helped?

As I said at the start I never thought this would grow the way it has. People send me nice messages, share my content, donate and subscribe to this newsletter.

But it’s more than that…

The best example I can give is my footwear. I had a bad run of luck at the weekend during the big event with losing and breaking 2 flip flops and wrecking all my running shoes. I ended up being so busy I was walking around with 2 right flip flops on. I shared it as I thought it was amusing.

Since then I have had at least 30-40 people ask me for my address to send me new shoes. Every time I go into my messages there is someone new asking my shoe size. A woman in America sent me a picture of flip flops to choose from in the shopping isle and was heading to the post office next.

If ever there is a moment where I am tired or wet and doubt the mission for even a second I think about the people supporting me. Given the set backs I face on a daily basis you have no idea what it feels like to have people there spurring me on. Between the brave dogs and kind people that is what gets me over all the inevitable challenges I face. When I put a 20kg bad of dog food on my scooter and head off up the mountain I literally feel there are people there willing me on.

You will never know how much that support means to me.

After learning a lot about the dogs on the ground I think I can now click this into a faster gear and save more at a bigger scale.

Thanks as always

Big Love

Niall

P.S Sorry for the delay in this email but today is the first day in 2 weeks I’ve had a spare hour to write as you can see from the activity above!

P.P.S You can always support by either donating here, on Paypal or just subscribing to this newsletter.