Storm and The Winds Of Change

A small dog with a big future

A little dog came into all our lives 2 weeks ago that reminded me of why I do this. Storm appeared via a kind local man in the community with little means at his disposal. He’d seen Storm being hit by a car and suffer a huge brain trauma. He took Storm to get treated locally but was told the only option was to put him to sleep.

The man didn’t have the money so took him home and sat helplessly watching Storm suffer for 4 days before he found us. Little Storm has been showing us what is possible both on an individual basis and at scale this week. This is how Storm is inspiring myself and the team and feeding into our work…

We Were Storm’s Only Hope

I have to say that when I first saw him arrive I was incredibly pessimistic. I had his chances at less than 1% and thought we’d just be helping with end of life care. How wrong I was. Our new vet, Dr Singha, said he would like to just give him time.

Obviously he was getting a huge cocktail of medicines and special care but because he was so young and brain injuries need rest we decided his best hope was…time. And how well he has responded…

• After a very tough first few days his body started to calm down and relax.

• He slowly was able to come off the drips and we hand fed him

• Between trying to lift his little head and his tail wagging we knew there was hope

• Each day he has slowly started to regain some of his balance

• He is back walking (very gingerly) on his own and improving by the day

No matter how long I do this work with the dogs they always surprise me. To see the change in Storm after just 12 days blows my mind.

Tina’s Hospital

The nature of what we do at Happy Doggo has changed so much in the last few months with our own vets and the field hospital cranking up. I still find it hard to believe that here in the middle of the jungle we have a fully licensed facility with vets working on saving lives. There are over a dozen operations happening this week alone. Some examples include…

• Tank had a successful surgery on his massively complicated hernia issue

• Bravo had his leg amputated and is in rehab with us

• Big Red Brendan had bullets removed after being shot

• Our newest arrival Iris will have her dangerous lump removed

• Dogs are now sterilized here on a regular basis

Of course the dog who is not on the list but who has been in the very heart of the hospital surrounded by the best vets, support staff, medicines and love is little Storm himself. Were it not for the hospital and what we now have he wouldn’t have survived.

If Storm Can Take 10 Steps I Can Run A Marathon

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t having huge doubts about my ability to run a marathon on the 15th November. I’ve only given myself 30 days of training and was starting to think the idea was a stupid as it patently is. But seeing Storm take his first steps help me kick on with my own training. He has been fueling everything in my head…

• The sponsorship I raise will be for a mobile vet unit. It will mean 100,000 storms won’t be born into suffering in 2026.

• Storm is the dog we all see and know but so many more like him suffer that I’ll never even get to meet. He makes the problem feel real and tangible to me.

• Seeing him use all his willpower and energy to take those small steps makes me think I can make my own impossible challenge.

It’s hard to believe but the mobile clinic is now happening. We are in the process of kitting the trucks out, buying the equipment and hiring the staff.

It will hit the roads on the 8th of December which is just as big a challenge as me running the race in terms of logistics and pressure on the team.

I remember one day a couple of years ago standing with a puppy of Storm’s size up on the top of a mountain pass. I felt hopeless as all I could do was take it to the vet and nurse him back to health in my own little house.

I stood there looking into the valley and dreamt of a day where we would have trucks coming and going to the land with food. Our own vets to help the street dogs. Space to house the very sick patients and the ability to sterilize, vaccinate and medicate dogs at scale. I visualized it in my head hoping to will it into reality for the sake of the street dogs.

This week as I was trying to teach Storm to walk again he rested his head on me. He was tired but progress had been made. As I looked around at the vets treating dogs in Tina’s hospital, Alba’s kitchen working at full steam to feed 1200 dogs that day and trucks being prepared for our new mobile clinic I couldn’t help but feel the exact same way that Storm was. I was very tired but what progress we were making.

One Thing To Never Forget

I share these updates because the work we do is possible thanks to people like you reading this. This is a global mission to help street dogs and I am just lucky enough to be the one who is blessed to get to spend time helping the dogs. I am acutely aware that would be a dream for many people so I don’t take this support for granted.

We are now in a position to help close to 10,000 dogs per month and that all comes from your support. We couldn’t do it without you and I want to make sure everybody knows that you are as much a part of this mission as I am.

Little Storm has been a guiding light for us all this week on the ground and around the world. He is proof that you can be down in life but you are never out.

Big Love

Niall

P.S You can support the mission by just subscribing to this newsletter or donating to Happy Doggo here.