The 10 Best Best Dog Transformations And Why I Should Probably Be A Cold, Hard Bastard Instead

Featuring Tina, Rodney And McMuffin

Reducing the suffering of street dogs around the world is an incredibly hard task. The problem is daunting with at least 500 million stray dogs worldwide.

Even though I am just over a year into the project I think about all the aspects every single day and how to end the huge amount of suffering I see on a daily basis.

Being A Cold, Hard, Ruthless Bastard

The absolute quickest way for me to fix it would be to only focus on the following…

• Sterilise dogs non stop every single day to reduce and control populations

• Lobby to have laws changed around animal rights globally

• Create and fund educational programmes around the world

If I was really efficient and absolutely ruthless I would spend 100% of my time doing these 3 things. It’s what I probably should be doing instead of trying to balance focusing on individual dogs like the following which take up so much of my time…

The 10 Best Best Dog Transformations

Since the middle of last year I’ve been able to take dogs in to give them a better chance. These are some of the most notable ones…

1. Brad Pitt

We’d been trying to catch him for 2 whole months and finally had success this week. His hair was so matted and long that he could no longer see and he was struggling to move with the intense heat. Brad Pitt had been abandoned by owners but all it took to drastically improve his life was a big grooming session and some routine medicines.

You can just imagine how much better he feels today after his life being unbearable.

2. Derek

It’s taken 5 months to get him looking and acting like a normal dog but he is finally back playing, walking and looking like a million dollars. He had no prospects apart from dying a sad and lonely death. With vet care, patience, medicines, good food and shelter he can enjoy his golden years.

3. Rodney

A puppy who only had a day or 2 to live at most. He just happened to wander into the right place at the right time and now 2 months later he is packing his bags to head to Europe to his forever home. His early recovery really was a miracle.

4. Whacker

Whacker is a happy go lucky chap but he ran into the wrong person who wanted him dead. He came within a millimetre of losing his life instantly but he now enjoys beach days, leading the pack and is also soon going to a forever home. He truly is one of the lucky ones.

5. McMuffin

Dumped in the street and ravaged with TVT cancer she had 30-40 massive tumours all over her body. She was unusual in that her vet care cost close to $5000 over the course of 6 months but she battled long and hard through 10 weeks of chemo and a long recovery to a remarkable full recovery.

6. Hope

I’d seen Hope have several batches of puppies before I got her sterilised but then her trouble really started getting shot with a nail gun and slashed with a knife. Her physical wounds weren’t all that serious but its taken 5 months for her to slowly recover mentally. She now has a huge smile and is traveling to the UK with her new lovely mum.

7. Moritz

It took several operations and lots of solitary confinement to get Moritz better. He had a tough 6 months but he never complained and now is also helping filter through his new home applications. Moritz wouldn’t have made it with his injuries he had out on the streets alone.

8. Miss Marple

A girl with a badly bent spine who was dragging herself around and about to die. Luckily after vet care I was able to find her a wonderful place to rehab and live out her days. She is already doing beach runs in her new wheels.

9. Tina

Tied up on a chain after having endless puppies her face couldn’t have been any more sad. Now she is full of life, bulking out and actually looking like the Golden Retriever that she is. To say Tina is spoiled would be an understatement.

10. Snoop, Jumbo And Britney

My own three dogs at home are all rescues. Snoop has been with me 11 years and takes up so much time as he is losing his ability to walk. Jumbo had to be taken off the streets as a dog with unsolvable recurring health issues. Britney is a dog that was so aggressive I had nowhere else to put her but she has been rehabilitated over the last 8 months in my small apartment. An unusual trio who are all ploughing on happily in life despite their issues.

Why Am I Wasting Time On Transforming Dogs And Re-Homing Dogs?

I've outlined the actual fastest solution at the start of this post. Sterilise, change laws and educate. Thats what would save the most dogs the fastest and help me change the biggest number of lives.

I think very deeply about this and the reasons I try to do both the transformations and the bigger picture elements are as follows…

1. Raising awareness. If i logged into my social profiles and shared info every day about hoping to change legislation around the world, sterilising dogs and shaping educational material there would be absolutely no interest. Zero. It’s sad but true. The problem is too big and abstract and people wouldn’t care about it. People all over the world do care about Rodney, Tina and Whacker and that is how I raise awareness to help street dogs.

2. Future funding and storytelling. At some stage soon I’ll need millions of $ to do the really serious stuff at scale. That will have to be backed up with serious data, solutions, projections and a credible plan. However you also need to show the problems dogs encounter and pique people’s interest. Sharing the suffering of dogs helps paint the overall picture.

3. Understanding suffering. The closer I am to the problem the more I want to solve it. If I’m sitting in an office in London looking at spreadsheets It really just wouldn’t be as motivating to tackle it. Seeing a dog like Britney and getting her and her 5 puppies sterilised and re-homed really shows me what does and doesn’t work and just how big the challenge is.

The One Big Overarching Reason

Hopefully everything above makes sense and is logically thought out but there is another reason that outstrips everything and it is very personal. I’ve made no secret of my past battle with depression, anxiety and ending up in ICU after nearly drinking myself to death. In short I am happy to be alive and have this second chance at life.

When I look into the eyes of a dog like Whacker, Rodney or McMuffin I don’t see a number or a percentage on a spreadsheet. I see another living being suffering and in desperate need of a second chance. I can see right into their soul because I’ve been there myself and I know how scared they are and what a second chance in life could mean to them.

So I’m selfish. I help the dogs and transform them because it makes me feel good. I like the feeling of helping them and changing their lives. This mission is incredibly tough mentally and you see so many horrible things that there needs to be some wins too. Cancer survivors, dogs who get new homes, puppies who make comebacks. Just to have those little wins helps to spur me on to tackle the more mundane stuff.

I’m always looking at the bigger picture and trying to move fast but sometimes saving a few small lives and making them prosper is just as important.

I’m sitting writing this feeling healthy, energised and able to tackle bigger challenges day by day. As I look down Tina, Derek and Brad Pitt are at my feet gently sleeping and feeling the exact same about life.

Big love

Niall

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