Pampering An Amazing Mum

A Story Worth Sharing

We’ve had so many requests for updates on Mary the amazing mum and her six nursing puppies that we’ve decided it’s time to start the ACT Blog so that we can more easily share with you all our rescue stories. We’ve already published a post about how we learned of Mary’s terrible condition and situation and immediately went to her rescue on Xmas Eve. Here now are the ups and downs of the last two weeks for this formerly stray family:

A New Environment

After we delivered them into her care, Dr. Huang gave all the canine family thorough examinations followed by bandages and fluids for Mum. She explained that Mum was very anaemic and the whole family were undernourished and very dehydrated. The pups were only a little on the skinny side, but that was clearly at the detriment of their doting mother’s condition. She had become almost skeletal as her body passed on through her milk what little food she was managing to find within hobbling distance of their trash-pile nest. Her babies of course had no idea that they were depleting their mum of nutrition, fluid, energy, and health. But Mary must have known the price she was paying to keep her pups alive—and it would have cost her her own if that kind passerby hadn’t alerted us to her terrible predicament.

Thankfully, the mum and pups only needed to stay at the vet hospital for one night, and on Xmas morning we moved them into the relative peace and quiet of our founders’ home. They have taken up residence in Sean and Judy’s guest bathroom, which is easier to keep clean and affords Mum a sense of security away from all the other dogs and cats in the home. While the six pups ran around happily from the moment they arrived, Mary remained cautious and a little bewildered about her new surroundings. But she wolfed down every meal without hesitation and nursed her babies on demand without complaint.

Beginning to Trust

It didn’t take long for Mary to understand that she and her pups were in a much better place now. She’s been getting fresh raw food three times a day with all kinds of health-giving supplements to give herself and her six growing pups all the nutrition they could possibly need. Just as she had done at the time of her rescue, she would sit up as though begging when she knew food was coming. And very quickly she learned that meals are always followed by kind attention, which she really, really loves. We were surprised how this once protective mum would happily let us handle her pups so trustingly within just a couple of days—and even come and ask for a cuddle for herself.

Puppy Love

Sean and Judy’s young children, Saoirse and Conor, have been ‘helping out’ with the new house guests—albeit mostly by playing with and cuddling the puppies. It’s important the pups get played with and handled as much as possible from an early age so that they’ll be comfortable with human touch, better socialized, and thus easier to get happily adopted once they’re old enough to leave Mum (Jerry, the only girl puppy, will stay with Mary).

Some Sad News

On Wednesday night, all the pups were eating well, playing happily, and running around like little balls of energy. So it was a shock when we opened their door on Thursday morning to find that little Rico had passed away during the night. We know that young puppies can die suddenly and seemingly without cause, and that all the puppies had a very poor start at life. But it was still very sad for us—and probably most of you—that tiny Rico didn’t get to take full advantage of the chance he was given for a beautiful life ahead. Mary seemed totally normal and not in anyway upset by the death of one of her pups—such is a mother dog’s nature very often.

Rico’s very short life at least ended in comfort and happiness and a constantly full belly. May he rest in peace.

On a Happier Note

We don’t want to close this blog post on such a sad piece of news. So here’s a quick video of Mary reminding us that life goes on—and that it can get so much better when kind people come together to make great things happen for the suffering animals of Taiwan. You can see she’s putting on healthy weight, is walking more easily, and her coat is already much shinier.

Your Kindness Can Transform the Life of a Suffering Taiwan Stray

To help ensure the rescue of some ofTaiwan’s most badly injured or sickest stray dogs and cats, please consider becoming an ACT donor today. You can donate monthly or as a one-off easily and securely with credit card, debit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, or Google Pay: