Singapore Special dog that was found at army camp needs urgent foster home by end-March

SINGAPORE: HOPE Dog Rescue is urgently looking for a new home for a beautiful Singapore special dog, after the family that was fostering it are moving. The dog, named Holly, must find a new home by the end of March before the family vacates their current house.

Holly made headlines last October when she was spotted at an army camp. An army man alerted HOPE Dog Rescue that the dog, that had been badly scalded and abused, was tearing and begging for food at the NSmen cafeteria.

The dog rescue asked the informant to place the dog in a dog carrier that they provide for HOPE to take over the case, but the person stopped replying. HOPE staff went down to the army camp but were not allowed entry, although the guards acknowledged that they had seen the dog inside their camp.

The guards said that whoever had taken that photo would need to approach their superior, send them an official email and only then would they be able to rescue the dog.

HOPE eventually succeeded in rescuing the female dog after a volunteer contacted the relevant army personnel with suggestions on how to assist in trapping the dog. The army team helped to lure the dog into an enclosed room, where volunteers managed to secure the extremely scrawny dog.

Rescuers found that Holly suffered from a skin disease. Not only had most of her fur fallen out due to excessive scratching, she also had infected ulcers across her thin frame. But HOPE staff and volunteers did not give up.

A foster family soon expressed their willingness to take Holly in. The dog, which was initially very skittish and fearful of humans, gradually began letting her guard down thanks to the love she found from her foster family. She began wagging her tail and lounging near humans, instead of staying alone in an empty room.

HOPE Dog Rescue said that Holly’s progress in just a month is exceptional and the love, kindness and patience she found in her foster home helped her make huge leaps of improvement in a relatively short time.

Unfortunately, Holly’s foster carers now have to move out of their current home and are worried that she would not be able to adapt to their new accommodation.

While HOPE is also looking at temporary boarding facilities, it is of concern that “Holly may feel displaced and confused left at boarding. All those months in a foster home may go down the drain, just when she has started to open up.”

The organization is urgently seeking a new family willing to foster Holly and have asked Singapore dog lovers to consider doing so or spread the word if they are not currently able to.

Revealing that Holly is not aggressive at all, HOPE said, “Holly is a very sweet dog. While she’s afraid of humans, we believe given time, she can acclimatize to our way of life and make a nice good pet. Holly may be wary, but she has never snapped. If she’s scared, she would just retreat to her private space and avoid eye contact. She’s also okay with other dogs at home.”