Want A Dog? Come to Taiwan! (on stray dogs of Taiwan)

One major problem in Taiwan is the amount of stray dogs that are everywhere. Stop in front of any 7-11 or drive your scooter or car down the road and you are guaranteed to see stray dogs of all shapes and sizes.  Usually these dogs are larger mixed breeds but once in a while you'll see a stray dog that seems really out of place.  I've seen a few stray white and furry lap dogs roaming the roads in search of food.  Some look like they once had a past life of being played with by a child, being groomed, pet and fed, then suddenly left on the streets to fend for themselves. Maybe it no longer a puppy a child decided he or she didn't want to have a dog anymore.  Maybe they're lost and can't find their home (highly doubtful).  Maybe they ate too much or didn't know how to fetch so the owners disowned them.  Whatever the reasons, there are no pounds or organizations to take these dogs in and most of these dogs aren't fixed so they breed and breed.
   Being from a country where stray dogs are not a problem, it took a while to get used to seeing free roaming dogs everywhere.  What was hard for me to swallow was the amount of injured dogs there were walking the streets.  A lot of dogs are accidentally hit by cars or scooters, or venture into a farm in search of food and sadly get a foot caught in a trap.  I see a dog with a severe limp about once a day while driving my scooter.  What once was something for me to take notice of and pitifully stare and ponder what might've happened to the poor dog, is now something that I hardly notice anymore.  I am slowly but surely becoming indifferent to the fates of these stray dogs.

   One day, after a surf, Chris and I were walking back to our house when we saw a few people staring at a dog right on our street.  When we got closer, we saw that the dog was severely injured and in a lot of pain.  The poor dog had been hit and was unable to use his hind legs.  Not only that but it had defecated itself and was using it's front paws to drag itself out of view from the stares.  I was shocked and horrified, my sheltered upbringing hadn't prepared me to see a poor defenseless dog freshly hit by a car, sure to die any moment.  We trudged home unsure of what to do since everyone else around us had gotten back to what they were doing as if nothing happened.  I set my board down and couldn't stop talking to Chris about the poor dog and it's doomed fate.
Should we try to find it some help? He had a collar, who are the owners? Is there a vet in town we can take him too? Would he be able to get on the scooter?
The reality of it was that if it had no owner, no one would want to take the responsibility of trying to find help for it, after all, it's just a dog.  After about five minutes, I decided that I would go back and see at least if it were still alive.  To my surprise, it was gone.  I walked up to my neighbors house and pointed to the street.
I asked, "Dog? Where?"
He replied, "Owner take him."
I was relieved, at least if he were going to die he wouldn't die all alone.
   A week later, I was surprised to see the dog once again, it had lost a lot of weight and still couldn't use it's hind legs so he was dragging himself with his paws, a very heartbreaking sight. But it had survived nonetheless... if taken to a vet, I wonder what the vet had said.  I know for sure that in the US the poor dog would be put down so that he would no longer have to suffer.  But what is the correct way to handle such a situation?
   Another week went by and to our utter surprise, we saw the dog walking! It had quite a limp but it was clear, the dog was going to survive with the use of most of his hind legs.  

   Chris's sister, Adrienne arrived in Taiwan a couple of weeks ago and naive dog lover that she is, freshly from the States, convinced Chris to stop the scooter for a stray puppy.  Chris and I both knew that picking up a stray pup was bad news, it meant that it would surely be our responsibility and it would be impossible to find it a home unless it was our home. Which was why it had never occurred to us before to pick up a stray puppy. However, Adrienne's optimism and good nature was infectious, it was after all, a puppy, a cute one in fact.  Maybe we can feed her for a day and tomorrow we will find a loving owner for her...surely there are hundreds of people out there that would never say no to a puppy-and maybe the next day stray pups all over the world would wake up with ribbons on their head and treats in their faces.  Chris and I knew we were being irrational, taking in a stray pup in Taiwan would mean that it was now our stray pup, but we ignored our senses and figured, things would work out, it was just so cute.

A couple of weeks later, and we're stuck with a puppy, and there are still stray pups all over the world without ribbons or treats.  Chris and I are in no position to raise a puppy, we are constantly moving around, don't have a real home, don't even know when we'll have a real home and now we have a puppy.   
Adrienne!!! 

If you live in Taiwan and you are reading this, would you like a sweet puppy?? She's very cute, very smart and will brighten up your world.

The day she was found

Puppy hero

Heavily napping on my backpack

Lesson learned- If you are in Taiwan and see a stray pup and you're overcome with a sudden urge to rescue the poor little dog, DON'T unless you're looking to adopt one.