Sassy Mama Supports: SOSD

Calling all dog lovers! SOSD is one of Singapore’s leading animal advocacy organisations, and their biggest event of the year is coming up in August; here’s how you can help

SOSD (formerly Save Our Street Dogs) is a volunteer-run organisation dedicated to the welfare of Singapore’s many street dogs. Their dog shelter exists to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome strays to give them a second chance at life. If you’re an animal lover with a great passion for our canine friends, there are plenty of ways to participate and help give these beautiful creatures a chance to find their forever home.

Whether you want to adopt a dog, be a dog shelter volunteer, donate to the pet shelter, become a sponsor or even foster a dog while it awaits its forever home, there are plenty of ways to show you care.

SOSD’s mission is simple: it aims “to eliminate cruelty and abandonment of animals, enhancing their welfare, and improve the lives of animals and humans, through rescue, education and advocacy.” SOSD strives to save our street dogs through three key areas of focus:

Advocate & Educate

SOSD actively advocates against the culling of our street dogs as well as for changes to stray management policies and the welfare of strays. Their work is grounded in compassion for our street dogs who often lead very harsh and miserable lives, often as a result of the land on which they live on being taken over for the purposes of construction and due to the callousness of man.

Whilst SOSD recognises that not everyone may be an animal lover, this is no excuse for the abuse that our street dogs suffer, often being left for dead or severely maimed. SOSD continually advocates against abuse and also educated the public on how not to provoke stray dogs that they may encounter. It is also SOSD’s mission to reach out to the public to correct the common misconception that mongrels are all ferocious, dirty and somehow, second-class dogs compared to pedigree breeds. Mongrels are extremely intelligent and generally tend to be healthier than purebreds given their varied genetic makeup. Street dogs make exceedingly loyal pets, grateful for a home and for the love shown to them.

Rescue & Rehome

SOSD rescues and rehomes as many stray dogs and puppies as their limited resources allow. For the ones that are wounded, the organisation does what it can to give them good veterinary care and help nurse them back to health before finding them homes. Rescue efforts entail an astronomical cost that includes trapping and redemption operations, boarding fees and vet care. SOSD does not own a shelter and is currently renting a few kennels from a commercial entity as a temporary holding area for some of our rescues. But kennel space fills up very quickly and so SOSD depends on available fosterers in order to save more dogs, as its unable to undertake a rescue if there’s nowhere for the dog to go to. Sadly, they constantly find that there are more dogs and pups to be rescued than there are fosterers. In order to save more lives, it’s imperative that SOSD have its very own shelter. It’s working towards building it, but they can’t do it alone. Rehoming street dogs in Singapore is another uphill task; SOSD adopts a mandatory screening process for every potential adoption. This is to ensure that rescued dogs do not fall into the wrong hands, and that all goes well for both the dog and family.

Sterilization for Humane Population Control

SOSD believes in sterilisation as a humane method for the control of the stray population. It sterilises adult dogs before putting them up for adoption and follows up on adopted puppies to ensure that they are sterilised when they are old enough. SOSD also advocates that our authorities implement a nationwide sterilisation program for our street dogs.

Events and Fundraising

Throughout the year, SOSD runs various events for fundraising and community awareness and engagement, as well as adoption drives. They also run monthly shelter tours; the next one will be on 30 July, followed by another on 13 August – click the link if you’d like to register!

Be sure to check out their Facebook page for lots of updates on adoption drives, along with heaps of cute photos!

On 19 August SOSD will also be hosting its Annual Gala Charity Dinner at the Conrad Hotel Ballroom, with a theme of retro-glam. Last year saw an exciting line-up of performances, auctions and lucky draws, and this year promises to be even better as SOSD celebrates new beginnings: it’s bidding goodbye to the SOSD Rehabilitation Centre that’s been their home for more than three years, and will be moving to new premises in Sungei Tengah. Amazingly, more than 1,000 lives have passed through the shelter en route to gaining a second chance in life. This year’s gala aims to raise $100,000 to fund the extensive renovations required for the new shelter.

Since food always tastes better with dogs around, SOSD has picked a venue that not only ensures your comfort but will also allow for a glamorous adoption drive, too. They also look forward to welcoming guest of honour, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, Mr K Shanmugam!

All the details!
What: SOSD Charity Dinner 2017: Farewell To Our Home 
Where: Conrad Hotel Ballroom, Millennia Walk, 2 Temasek Boulevard, Singapore 038982
When: 19 August 2017, 7 pm to 10 pm
How much: 1 seat for a donation of $200, or 10 seats for a donation of $1,800
RSVP: Click here to register, and email any queries to [email protected]

www.sosd.org.sg