19/4 (11am - 1pm)

Interaction with the dogs

Painting of Murals

Reflections: This is the first day that we started helping out in the ASD dog pound and I must say, I had been looking forward to this day for quite a long time. However, it did not turn up to be as I had expected. Situated in a desolate area in Lim Chu Kang, the place was almost inaccessible by foot and we had to take a bus down to the area. Upon arrival, we still had to walk a long way until we got inside the pound. There however, the gods gave us a less than welcome reception, barking the moment they sensed us approaching. This, I told myself, would improve as the dogs got to know us better. As we entered the pound, we were introduced to the two permanent workers in the pound, whom were responsible for their well being. Following a short briefing by them, our group was given some time to get to know the dogs, and we spent the next hour or so playing with them. As they warmed up to us, the dogs stopped behaving as aggressively and I realized that most of them were normal dogs, but yet all of them had been sadly abandoned. It struck me then that the situation of dog abandonment in Singapore could very well be even worse than we thought or had suspected. The next few hours were spent scraping off the rust on the walls of the pound, so that we could later paint murals on them. It was tiring work, and extremely time consuming. Thankfully, a few volunteers had come down to help us with this task and we managed to finish cleaning and painting the wall within the next few hours. It was not something any one of us was used to, but helping out with these little tasks filled all of us with a sense of happiness. Being able to help these dogs brought us much joy, and despite it being just a mural, the thought of the dogs looking at them everyday made us put our heart and souls into painting them. As the time passed, it was soon time for us to leave, and due to our Beijing immersion, we would not be able to visit this place again in the next month. Thus it was with a heavy heart that we departed the pound, but at the same time, we were even more determined to work doubly hard when we came back.

14/6 (11.00am - 2pm)

Interaction with puppies

Scrubbing of walls and spare cages

Walking of dogs

Reflections: Today was an interesting day in the sense that we got to see and interact with the dogs and puppies a lot more at the pound. After a month hiatus, it was with a renewed fervor that we resumed our activities at the pound. The task we had for today was to scrub out an empty part of the pound so as to prepare space for new dogs which were soon to arrive at the pound. Even before I started the task, it appalled me that even more dogs were coming to the pound. With more than 20 dogs at the moment, half the pound was full, but now there was to be even more dogs coming. Indeed, just as I had suspected, the problems of irresponsible dog ownership had reached new heights. Scrubbing the walls and cages was strenuous, but with the volunteers and permanent workers so busy with their daily activities of taking care of the dogs, it was our duty to try and lighten their loads by doing whatever we could. Although seemingly small a task, the whole process took close to an hour, by which we were all exhausted. Following this, we proceeded to interact with the puppies, which in my opinion were extremely cute. I could think of no reason why the owners had abandoned these adorable puppies and our group certainly had a nice time getting to know them. Once again, this drew up the issue of irresponsible ownership which we discussed with the chairman of ASD, Mr Ricky Yeo then.
As we took the dogs out for a walk out after that, we were able to find out more about their stories from the volunteers. It appeared that many of these dogs were abandoned simply because their owners had grown bored of them. One of the dogs, Stella, for example, had been knocked down by a car after being abandoned, which caused it to have a leg amputated. As we walked Stella and heard about her sad past from the volunteer, we could not help but feel for her predicament. Indeed, as we left the pound today, all our hearts were weighed down by the knowledge of the unfortunate events which had happened to these dogs. Today, we witnessed for ourselves how the irresponsibility of one human can result in a lifetime of pain for an animal.

18/6(10am - 4pm)

Making of dog head

Today was a big fiasco!! Initially, the group had planned to meet up to discuss the making of our props for the plays to be performed in primary schools. We met as arranged, and decided to go shopping for the materials required to make the dog’s head. The plan was simple—blow up a balloon, paste paper mache over it, wait for it to dry and TADAA we would have the skull of the dog ready! Unfortunately, things did not go as well as planned. After we finally managed to purchase the numerous materials required, we got down to work. Blowing up balloons the desired size was difficult as they kept bursting due to some reason. When we finally managed to get some big enough balloons blown, they once again refused to co-operate and burst the moment the paper mache touched them. Unwilling to give up so easily, we tried. And tried. AND tried. Sad to say, all our efforts were futile and no matter how many balloons we tried, all burst. In the end, with paper mache all over the four of us, we decided to adopt a different approach. Since a balloon was too flimsy to paste the mache on, we decided to use a beach ball instead. However, due to time constrains and poor weather, we could not go out and buy a beach ball. In the end, we tried to borrow one from the neighbours but alas, either none of them had a beach ball or were unwilling to lend it to us once they heard what we were going to do with them. All in all, today was one big waste of time. However, although we did not manage to get anything done, we did manage to learn a few new skills in the process, such as persevering even in times where it seemed the situation was doomed to failure. Also, we were given a chance to utilize our creative thinking skills, trying to think out of the box and make use of alternative means.

21/6(11am - 3pm)

Bleach + Scrub the drainages

Clear the weeds and rubble

Well, I must say it was a tiring day today. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a flustered volunteer who hurriedly assigned us our tasks for today before leaving. Upon asking one of them, we learnt that there was to be a group of adopters coming to visit the dogs later on in the afternoon, thus the workers and volunteers had to get ready the dogs. If all goes well, some lucky dog(s) would be adopted by the end of the day. Today, we were to scrub out the drains lining the sides of the puppies’ side of the pound. The initial though of cleaning the areas where all the urine of the puppies went to put us off. However, upon further thought, we saw that with the huge amount of work that the workers and volunteers had on their hands, we should do that little bit to help lighten their load. Thus, it was with this thought in mind that the four of us started bleaching the drain. After an hour’s sweat, the drains were clean!! Well, technically speaking, they weren’t that clean, because due to the long period of time they remained unwashed, the bottom of the drain still remained grayish-white, but at least they were rid of all the moss now. Following that, we had more time to interact with the puppies and today was the first time we stepped into the puppies’ side of the pound. Previously we had known that there were puppies on the other side, but were not allowed to enter that part because the puppies were not yet used to us and much less receptive than the adults. Playing with them was fun, but soon it was time for work again.
Together with Mr Ricky Yeo, we were to help weed the back of the pound, which had the body of a puppy buried there some years ago. The weeds had grown into a forest in the years which no one had trimmed them, and the whole process took a lot of time. Just when we were all hoping for a bit of rest after plucking out all the weeds, we were told to remove the pieces of rubble which had been left there by construction workers years ago when they had build the pound. Yet another back-breaking task, but we took it light heartedly, having lots of fun while excavating large pieces of rocks from the rubble. What impressed me the most was the fact that Mr Ricky Yeo, despite being the chairman of the association, also took a hands-on role in helping out with the tasks. During this period of time in which we worked together, we learnt that he, too, had a job of his own, but had sacrificed his weekends and precious time on the pound. Setting up a pound single handedly was no easy task, and all the costs of building came out of his own pocket. However, taking a look at all the dogs and puppies living happily in the pound now made al his effort worthwhile. All of us were deeply impressed by Mr Yeo’s commitment to this cause and resolved to one day follow his footsteps and continue caring for abandoned dogs.

This is the first day that we started helping out in the ASD dog pound and I must say, I had been looking forward to this day for quite a long time. However, it did not turn up to be as I had expected. Situated in a desolate area in Lim Chu Kang, the place was almost inaccessible by foot and we had to take a bus down to the area. Upon arrival, we still had to walk a long way until we got inside the pound. There however, the gods gave us a less than welcome reception, barking the moment they sensed us approaching. This, I told myself, would improve as the dogs got to know us better. As we entered the pound, we were introduced to the two permanent workers in the pound, whom were responsible for their well being. Following a short briefing by them, our group was given some time to get to know the dogs, and we spent the next hour or so playing with them. As they warmed up to us, the dogs stopped behaving as aggressively and I realized that most of them were normal dogs, but yet all of them had been sadly abandoned. It struck me then that the situation of dog abandonment in Singapore could very well be even worse than we thought or had suspected. The next few hours were spent scraping off the rust on the walls of the pound, so that we could later paint murals on them. It was tiring work, and extremely time consuming. Thankfully, a few volunteers had come down to help us with this task and we managed to finish cleaning and painting the wall within the next few hours. It was not something any one of us was used to, but helping out with these little tasks filled all of us with a sense of happiness. Being able to help these dogs brought us much joy, and despite it being just a mural, the thought of the dogs looking at them everyday made us put our heart and souls into painting them. As the time passed, it was soon time for us to leave, and due to our Beijing immersion, we would not be able to visit this place again in the next month. Thus it was with a heavy heart that we departed the pound, but at the same time, we were even more determined to work doubly hard when we came back.

14/6 (11.00am - 2pm)

Interaction with puppies

Scrubbing of walls and spare cages

Walking of dogs

Reflections: Today was an interesting day in the sense that we got to see and interact with the dogs and puppies a lot more at the pound. After a month hiatus, it was with a renewed fervor that we resumed our activities at the pound. The task we had for today was to scrub out an empty part of the pound so as to prepare space for new dogs which were soon to arrive at the pound. Even before I started the task, it appalled me that even more dogs were coming to the pound. With more than 20 dogs at the moment, half the pound was full, but now there was to be even more dogs coming. Indeed, just as I had suspected, the problems of irresponsible dog ownership had reached new heights. Scrubbing the walls and cages was strenuous, but with the volunteers and permanent workers so busy with their daily activities of taking care of the dogs, it was our duty to try and lighten their loads by doing whatever we could. Although seemingly small a task, the whole process took close to an hour, by which we were all exhausted. Following this, we proceeded to interact with the puppies, which in my opinion were extremely cute. I could think of no reason why the owners had abandoned these adorable puppies and our group certainly had a nice time getting to know them. Once again, this drew up the issue of irresponsible ownership which we discussed with the chairman of ASD, Mr Ricky Yeo then.
As we took the dogs out for a walk out after that, we were able to find out more about their stories from the volunteers. It appeared that many of these dogs were abandoned simply because their owners had grown bored of them. One of the dogs, Stella, for example, had been knocked down by a car after being abandoned, which caused it to have a leg amputated. As we walked Stella and heard about her sad past from the volunteer, we could not help but feel for her predicament. Indeed, as we left the pound today, all our hearts were weighed down by the knowledge of the unfortunate events which had happened to these dogs. Today, we witnessed for ourselves how the irresponsibility of one human can result in a lifetime of pain for an animal.

18/6(10am - 4pm)

Making of dog head

Today was a big fiasco!! Initially, the group had planned to meet up to discuss the making of our props for the plays to be performed in primary schools. We met as arranged, and decided to go shopping for the materials required to make the dog’s head. The plan was simple—blow up a balloon, paste paper mache over it, wait for it to dry and TADAA we would have the skull of the dog ready! Unfortunately, things did not go as well as planned. After we finally managed to purchase the numerous materials required, we got down to work. Blowing up balloons the desired size was difficult as they kept bursting due to some reason. When we finally managed to get some big enough balloons blown, they once again refused to co-operate and burst the moment the paper mache touched them. Unwilling to give up so easily, we tried. And tried. AND tried. Sad to say, all our efforts were futile and no matter how many balloons we tried, all burst. In the end, with paper mache all over the four of us, we decided to adopt a different approach. Since a balloon was too flimsy to paste the mache on, we decided to use a beach ball instead. However, due to time constrains and poor weather, we could not go out and buy a beach ball. In the end, we tried to borrow one from the neighbours but alas, either none of them had a beach ball or were unwilling to lend it to us once they heard what we were going to do with them. All in all, today was one big waste of time. However, although we did not manage to get anything done, we did manage to learn a few new skills in the process, such as persevering even in times where it seemed the situation was doomed to failure. Also, we were given a chance to utilize our creative thinking skills, trying to think out of the box and make use of alternative means.

21/6(11am - 3pm)

Bleach + Scrub the drainages

Clear the weeds and rubble

Well, I must say it was a tiring day today. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a flustered volunteer who hurriedly assigned us our tasks for today before leaving. Upon asking one of them, we learnt that there was to be a group of adopters coming to visit the dogs later on in the afternoon, thus the workers and volunteers had to get ready the dogs. If all goes well, some lucky dog(s) would be adopted by the end of the day. Today, we were to scrub out the drains lining the sides of the puppies’ side of the pound. The initial though of cleaning the areas where all the urine of the puppies went to put us off. However, upon further thought, we saw that with the huge amount of work that the workers and volunteers had on their hands, we should do that little bit to help lighten their load. Thus, it was with this thought in mind that the four of us started bleaching the drain. After an hour’s sweat, the drains were clean!! Well, technically speaking, they weren’t that clean, because due to the long period of time they remained unwashed, the bottom of the drain still remained grayish-white, but at least they were rid of all the moss now. Following that, we had more time to interact with the puppies and today was the first time we stepped into the puppies’ side of the pound. Previously we had known that there were puppies on the other side, but were not allowed to enter that part because the puppies were not yet used to us and much less receptive than the adults. Playing with them was fun, but soon it was time for work again.
Together with Mr Ricky Yeo, we were to help weed the back of the pound, which had the body of a puppy buried there some years ago. The weeds had grown into a forest in the years which no one had trimmed them, and the whole process took a lot of time. Just when we were all hoping for a bit of rest after plucking out all the weeds, we were told to remove the pieces of rubble which had been left there by construction workers years ago when they had build the pound. Yet another back-breaking task, but we took it light heartedly, having lots of fun while excavating large pieces of rocks from the rubble. What impressed me the most was the fact that Mr Ricky Yeo, despite being the chairman of the association, also took a hands-on role in helping out with the tasks. During this period of time in which we worked together, we learnt that he, too, had a job of his own, but had sacrificed his weekends and precious time on the pound. Setting up a pound single handedly was no easy task, and all the costs of building came out of his own pocket. However, taking a look at all the dogs and puppies living happily in the pound now made al his effort worthwhile. All of us were deeply impressed by Mr Yeo’s commitment to this cause and resolved to one day follow his footsteps and continue caring for abandoned dogs.