Lucky, Chopper And Tough Choices

Staying relentlessly positive

If you follow my little journey with the dogs on social media you’ll hopefully feel uplifted and happy most of the time. I’m very conscious about editing what I share so as people get a nice boost of dopamine a couple of times a day.

As you can probably guess though the reality is a lot harder on the ground. You don’t see me cleaning up the dog mess, taking sick dogs to the vet or dogs that get hit by cars. I don’t want it to be an account that you have to squirm while you scroll, although I will post the odd sad story (like beautiful Derek) if I there is a possible positive outcome.

Despite the editing there are times when you can see the tough parts of this mission and these two examples highlight that…

1. Lucky And Chopper

If you have followed my journey you’ll know all about Lucky and Chopper. 2 Incredibly special dogs who captured all our hearts. They were so special that any time I was struggling myself or feeling down I’d go and visit them for a sneaky extra feed and some belly rubs. They even had a big special day out at the beach.

Then one day 3 weeks ago they vanished and haven’t been seen since.

I loved them both dearly especially given that Lucky was the first dog I started feeding 10 months ago and the reason this whole effort started. I’ve exhausted every option in terms of finding them and because so many people ask…

• I’m 95% sure they are safe and have just moved on with humans (a large amount of people come and go in the area and Chopper did have and “owner” at the start who gave him a collar)

• 3% think they are up in the jungle with migrant farmers and will come back one day soon.

• 2% think something bad has happened to them or someone took them after seeing them on social media.

Out of all the dogs I feed and look after there are 5 missing at the moment. There are also 3 who have reappeared this week after being missing for some time. It is without doubt the hardest part of doing this. I can deal with a sick or injured dog but not knowing where they are is the killer emotion.

All I can do is be relentlessly positive. I have to save more dogs and use them to drive me on to do so. If I sit around and mope or get angry thats not going to help save more dogs.

2. McMuffin

She is the miracle dog who has battled cancer to still be here. My dream was that she should be the mascot for the whole project if I could just get her well enough to make it to the land. Well here she is with the cancer 90% gone and her little pad built for her. I can’t describe how special this dog is and how much I’d love to keep her.

But I’ve changed my mind and now realise I can’t. That would defeat the purpose of everything I am trying to do. The simple facts are…

1. Given how popular she is I will be able to find her an amazing home

2. She will soon be taking up a space for the next sick dog who will come along

3. She loves it here but all dogs love a nice settled home with routines and structures even more.

It’s cost $3000 now to keep her alive and I love her more than anything. I cannot be in the business of collecting dogs though If I want to solve the bigger problems. I could be sitting here in a years time with 50 McMuffins and while that would be great for them it wouldn’t solve the issue of street dogs around the world.

I need to park my personal attachment and do the right thing here. Tough for me personally but again I need to be relentlessly positive.

The Bigger Picture - Huge Progress At Scale

The individual dogs and their characters are what make this project so special. Seeing them recover, thrive or find homes is the positive content we all need daily. Having said that though it’s a tiny fraction of what I want to achieve. Luckily thanks to wonderful support from you all I am now able expand what I do and have hit some nice milestones…

• I now provide food for 300 Dogs per day (via other volunteers)

• 200 Dogs Sterilised since starting on the 1st April this year

• Funding the sterilising 50 dogs per month from November onwards (this stops 10,000s of new puppies)

• Have established a physical place to rehab and save dogs like Whacker, Hope and Derek

• Plans in place to at least double those numbers from the new year

Staying Relentlessly Positive

Of course I go to bed every single night thinking about what I should do with McMuffin. Of course I turn the corner on my scooter with my fingers crossed saying this will be the day Lucky and Chopper are back.

I’m not a robot but to do this at scale I have to be relentlessly positive. Every loss, every challenge and every slap in the face has to be met with a smile and a vow to move onto the next solution.

If I see dogs suffering I’ll find money to get more sterilised. If I see a dog with his head split open like Whacker I’ll find another 3 dogs forever homes. If I find dumped puppies with no food I’ll find a way to feed another 100 dogs the next week.

I do feel the knocks when the come along but I’ll never stop aiming for the North Star of improving the lives of millions of street dogs around the world. Lucky, Chopper and McMuffin are added inspiration to do it faster.

Big Love

Niall

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