Puppy Rescue

Last fall when Fiona was visiting Wat Opot from Christchurch, NZ, she found a sick, shaky, dying little puppy wandering the grounds alone.  Little Ralphie was scooped up and slowly nursed back to health.  When Fiona first found him, he was near his last breath, and is now a perfectly healthy dog (just in time for the wedding season where dog is a delicacy... uhhhhh gross).  Little Ralphie lived in the volunteer house for awhile, then came and moved to Phnom Penh with Molly and me to be a big city dog.  Unfortunately his lack of bladder and bowel control didn't mix well with our second story apartment and our jobs, so he promptly came back to Wat Opot.  Ralphie is now living with the family of a Wat Opot employee, and hasn't been "invited" to any weddings, whew!

Melinda with our little patients, Ralphie and Kitty.

Sitting on my bed in Phnom Penh which he probably peed on a few minutes after this was taken.

Word must have gotten around that the volunteers rescue puppies.  Today Seeto, a woman who lives on Wat Opot grounds and makes jewelry, came to our house with a little bundle asking for dog medicine.  She had another sick, shaky, and dying puppy that was burning up and couldn't stand on her own.  We gave it some food and water and a little bath, then realized that Seeto was not asking for us to treat her puppy but turning it over to us.  In the spirit of Fiona, Melinda decided to play vet and take the new puppy in.  The puppy is appropriately named Little Fiona after our favorite Princess Fiona!

Melinda the Vet with Little Fiona 

So sick :(

Little Fiona is doing much better.  She is eating, walking, and is flea-free (for now).  She has been given back to a reluctant Seeto, though she has made her way back to our house many times... she probably misses doing her business all over our floor and waking us up with her awfully pathetic little bark.  Fiona is so tiny that even the most fearless kids are afraid to hold her and pick her up, but I hope she will be okay, and I really hope she grows into those ears!

She's not the prettiest puppy, but she's alive and well