Family feels puppy love
Mum and family caring for litter of five overwhelmed by support
It takes a village to raise a child, and Taranaki woman Kylee Lawrence said the same is true when it comes to one particular litter of puppies.
Lawrence is currently caring for five puppies, but while they are living at her Stratford home there’s an entire community behind her, providing financial and practical support, she said.
“I really want to emphasise how beautiful this community is at getting behind everything, such charitable, kind people who give without expectations.”
Lawrence said a post looking for homes for the puppies turned up on her Facebook feed. The post, which was on a Ha¯wera community page, said neither the local pound or the SPCA could take them in.
“I think it was a case of an accidental mating, and the owners were overwhelmed.”
Lawrence said after seeing the post she and her 12-year-old son drove to Ha¯wera and collected the five remaining puppies.
“Because all dogs are good dogs, and their sweet faces looked so sad.”
Gerard Langford, a South Taranaki District Council spokesman, said the Ha¯wera pound had been contacted by someone looking to place the puppies in their care and had advised them to contact the SPCA.
The pound doesn’t have either the legal authority or the resource capacity to take puppies on at the pound, he said.
“However, we do have an extremely successful dog re-homing programme called Keep a Kuri where we try to re-home dogs that come into our custody which, for one reason or another are unable to be reunited with their previous owner, but would make great, loving pets.”
Lawrence said all five puppies will be looking for new homes soon.
“If I had land and endless funds I would keep them all, though.”
The reality however, is that with children, cats, plus their own two much loved dogs — Ozzy, a 21⁄2-yearold American bulldog and Stevie, a 1-year-old American bulldog cross pit bull terrier — all in residence, the Lawrences won’t be keeping any of their temporary guests permanently.
“Right now, the plan is to get them all to a weight where we can’t see bones, and nice and strong, fully vaccinated and in the best health.”
The puppies, all female, are mixed breed, said Lawrence.
“Mum is definitely a pit bull and
one of the dads is a sharpei cross and I think the dad of two could be a foxy or some other smaller breed.”
With pit bull in their parentage, Lawrence said it’s essential the puppies will go to the right homes.
“We are already taking applications for adoption and due to the breed we have to vet any potential families carefully and they will have to sign contracts to have them desexed.”
Part of that cost will be covered by the wider community of animal lovers Lawrence is being supported by. Not long after Lawrence had collected the puppies and posted about them on Facebook, people were offering help, she said.
“That’s how generous our community is. Within a half-hour people arrived with goods including paper, food, bedding, bowls, toys, crates and more. We have had Taranaki vets in Ha¯wera donate flea and worm treatment as well as people cover all the costs of vaccinations and vet treatment. Honestly, these girls are wanting for nothing. We have in excess of 120kg of puppy kibble as well as wet food and pet milk.”
With the support pouring in, Lawrence decided to post regular updates on her Ozzy & Friends Facebook page to keep everything transparent. People can also contact Lawrence through the page if they are interested in adopting one of the puppies or helping in any other way.
Since arriving at the Lawrence home, the puppies have been growing well, she said, and are likely to be ready for adoption in a few weeks. Before the puppies leave, plans are in place for a “puppy party” she said.
Manaia-based business Lone Wolf, which offers a safe place for dogs to play and run, has offered to host the party, which will enable everyone who has helped through donations, advice, or simply followed the puppies’ journey on Facebook to meet and play with them, she said.
“It’s a way of thanking each and everybody for their tremendous support. We can’t save them all but as a village we saved these five sweet girls.”