A letter kept in an amulet around a stray dog’s neck testifies to the bond between a dog who is awaiting an adoptive family in Canada and the woman who saved it from the street, an animal rescue group said over the weekend.
The Animal Rescue Team Taiwan (ARTT) said the four-year-old black mixed-breed, named Mei, was sent to Vancouver, Canada, on March 20 through an international adoption program.
It took several days before Mei would allow Cherry Latour, a volunteer with Vancouver’s Dogway Dog Rescue Society (DDRS), to approach her, but once Latour got close enough, she found the letter hidden in the amulet attached to the dog’s collar.
Photo courtesy of The Animal Rescue Team Taiwan
Along with the letter was a picture of Mei and a Taiwanese woman and a handwritten note in Chinese signed by “big sister” that read: “I will never forget the time I spent with you and I hope you won’t either. Be happy and joyful. And I hope we can meet again some day.”
Touched by the letter, the DDRS posted it on its Facebook page, calling it “a testament of what love is.”
Latour contacted the ARTT by e-mail on Thursday last week in hopes of finding the woman.
“We have taken Mei into our hearts as a sacred trust,” Latour wrote in the e-mail. “She is so loved here and in Taiwan. We want her ‘Big Sister’ to know that she will be so cherished and cared for.”
A search by the ARTT found the woman, identified as Taoyuan County resident Alice Yang (楊士儀), who rescued Mei off the street in the rain three years ago and took care of Mei until she had to give the dog up.
Yang told the ARTT that she tried to find a new home for Mei in Taiwan during the three years they spent together. Yang said she tried several private animal shelters, animal hospitals and foster homes, but Mei was simply not able to adapt.
“Her right ear was even injured after being attacked by other dogs at one of the local shelters,” Yang said. “That’s when I asked the ARTT for help in finding her a good home, and I knew for sure that her life would be much better in Canada.”
Recalling the time before Mei was sent to Canada, Yang said: “I couldn’t help but feel sad at our impending separation, so I decided to write the letter to wish her well.”
“I packed the letter neatly inside the amulet, which I had blessed at a nearby temple the day before her flight, and tied it around her neck right before we said goodbye at the airport,” Yang said.
DDRS later made a promise to Yang on its Facebook page: “We will keep her safe ... We will love her ... Big Sister, that is our solemn vow!”
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Traffic controls are to be in place in Taipei starting tonight, police said, as rallies supporting recall efforts targeting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers as well as a rally organized by the KMT opposing the recall campaigns are to take place tomorrow. Traffic controls are to be in place on City Hall Road starting from 10pm tonight and on Jinan Road Section 1 starting from 8am tomorrow, police said. Recall campaign groups in Taipei and New Taipei advocating for the recall of KMT legislators, along with the Safeguard Taiwan, Anti-Communist Alliance (反共護台聯盟), have previously announced plans for motorcycle parades and public
A tropical depression near the northwestern Philippines is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Danas by early tomorrow, becoming the fourth tropical storm of the season, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 8am today, the system was located approximately 370 kilometers southwest of Taiwan's southern tip, Cape Eluanbi, and has developed a more organized structure, forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The storm is currently moving slowly toward the Taiwan Strait in an east-northeast direction and may trigger a sea warning if it reaches tropical storm strength tomorrow morning. The system is expected to shift direction later tomorrow toward the north
‘ON THE RIGHT TRACK’: US analysts praised the ‘less scripted’ drills as strengthening defenses and resilience, as confusion and spontaneity are common in actual warfare This month’s annual Han Kuang military exercises are to feature six types of “gray zone” tactics used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with the aim of weakening their effectiveness, Chief of the General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) told the military yesterday. The 41st Han Kuang drills, scheduled from Wednesday next week through July 18, would simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion, with President William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday saying that Taiwan is already in a “war without gun smoke.” In a speech broadcast to officers and soldiers yesterday, Mei said that the six types of harassment are: legal warfare,
RSS