Pipsal

I just wanted to let DOLERS know that I haven't forgotten you and wanted to keep you updated with the happy ending! :rolleyes: Got the 4 remaining pups to Brisbane in one piece, slept on the floor in my empty house to keep them with me for as long as possible (12 days!) as the pups gradually found homes....the last one went to a foster carer as I had to head back to the community, but they kept me in the loop and she went to a new home this weekend (thanks a million Peninsula Animal Aid - please support them if you can, or look there for your next pet!). It was incredibly hard to see them go though, but hopefully they will be happy. Their mum turned up on my front steps again a couple of hours after I got back btw....she's the next project, but we may have persuaded someone else who loves her to take her with him when he leaves in the next month. And we are trying to find out how to organise mobile desexing clinics to come out. Thank you so much to everyone who responded with advice or encouragement along the way....I can not express how truly grateful I am. This has certainly been an experience I won't forget in a hurry, and I seriously take my hat off to those of you that rescue all the time...its heart-wrenching stuff. Given how isolated I am up here, and with the negativity I encountered in others, this forum was a lifeline and I felt I was not alone. So once again, THANK YOU....you helped me, and you helped the puppies. Best wishes.

Sorry I haven't replied sooner, but I have been in transit with pups. All got to Brisbane safe and sound... I contacted or tried to contact all of the shelters suggested and left messages with people and many times never had my calls returned. Some that I did get onto said they only take puppies if there are absolutely no other options, and others had a long waiting list. The only one I did any good with was Peninsula Animal Aid....they said they would take them next week (which I already had tee-ed up, but had the problem of finding somewhere for the weekend once I found out the info from the vet!). They also arranged for me to take them to a vet today and paid to have them checked, microchipped and get their first vaccination - so thats where we've been today. All appear perfectly healthy according to vet, no noticeable problems. They are currently sleeping....finally!

Thanks for your repsonses and reassurances.....I have calmed down a bit now. Can't believe that sort of 'bombshell' was dropped on me less than 24hrs prior to travelling to Brisbane. I love my own dog like a child and only get to see her when I am in Brisbane (because I won't bring her up here), and then I find out that I might be risking her - and after I had rang her vet on Monday to check if there were any potential issues for her before confirming my plans. I ended up ringing the vet myself tonight and talked to him about it. My parents were fairly accurate in what they passed on to me - he was very negative and said they could have some diseases which would render them 'put down' candidates. In his defence, a small part of it was my mothers freak out and lack of understanding also, but it did have me really worried for my own dog as well as the pups future....and I must admit I am still a bit unsettled. But at this stage they will still be travelling down tomorrow and I will have them on the weekend at my house and keep my dog with my parents. Not sure if I should advertise now or not because the vets strong push for RSPCA to deal with it because I wouldn't want to be responsible for giving people puppies that might be sick and die, etc. The vet said that if I am going to put them into a shelter then there is no point paying to get them checked etc (although I kind of want to know for my own piece of mind if they are ok, especially if going to a shelter). If I get them 'vet checked' - its going to cost me around $160 for all, plus $20ea for injection (plus consultation time to do that). Thanks again Ams for contacting Anvet - I wonder what they charge to vet check them all, maybe I could pay them for that if they are so generously offering the vaccinations? Showing my ignorance here, but will a 'vet check' be able to tell if they have any problems, or any of these diseases that will get them put down? Some of the diseases are treatable I'm told, but shelters won't pay for it because it is very expensive...maybe if I paid for it they would do it? (I'm sure I sound like I'm made of money, but at the moment I really can't afford all of this but I just can't rest easy if I don't do everything I can - giving them up at all is going to be so hard!). Unfortunately I am not able to worm them again until after I get to Brisbane as I do not have any more tablets here and am heading off tomorrow evening but won't get to a town with a vet until well after they are closed. They were wormed 1 week and 1 day ago, so they are not due until next Wednesday - is it ok to wait until then or should they get it sooner as they did have worms (lesson learnt! - but the a vet practice gave tablet worming treatments for them when someone went to town and got them for me....this was for 3wk old pups, and we couldn't get them to take them so I tried again at 5wks because I didn't realise it would become such a nasty problem so young!) I'm not sure how the worm cycle goes, whether there are a new batch growing in them now because I heard the treatment only kills the adults (the vet STRONGLY recommended I worm myself also...could have been what freaked my mother out even more)? Obviously can't get the treatment for mange yet either - but at the moment they have no signs of that they have beautiful shiny coats (have seen it on a few dogs and pups around the community, but not on any for a while). Also, I am driving the pups so they are not travelling with other dogs.

After everything that has happened (see previous posts), I have organised to get the pups down to Brisbane this weekend, at great expense to myself, but I was content that it was the best option. I had a shelter lined up to take them sometime next week if I hadn't' found homes for them. The plan was to take them to a vet Saturday for a check, then find homes for them. My parents were speaking to the vet about the situation today, and he was horrified (the same vet practice I have my appt with and had rung earlier in the week and asked all sorts of qns about whether my dog could get anything from them and all I was told was ear mites as she is treated for the rest of it). He said what were the pups saved for in the first place and that they need to be taken straight to an RSPCA as soon as they get here where they will probably be put down. He says that if the mother dog was not vaccinated then they probably have all sorts of diseases and that I should not find homes for them because it could be bringing the diseases down with them and that they should stay where they are. And not to come into any contact with their excrement - not to get it on shoes or anything because it will spread things. And that I should not be finding homes for them myself because of the disease etc. What can I do?! I couldn't deal with doing something that might hurt my own dog who is in Brisbane - so what do I do? Is this a general concensus - is what he says true? I am arriving very late Friday night, and the only place open will be an RSPCA - but should I even take them in my car if they are that diseased (I've been holding them etc for weeks..)???? These pups appear to be strong and healthy - they are super active, alert and clever etc, and I was almost wanting to keep one myself! I don't know how you rescue people do this all the time, this has been a horrible emotional rollercoaster and once again I am at a loss....

Sorry if there has been some confusion....to clarify, Ams is the only poster that I have had 'PM' contact with, the rest of my questions and responses are on this thread. Ams has generously offered a voucher for free crate hire, and when I asked if she had any idea what it might cost to use a transport company to transport them that far rather than drive them myself, she generously offered her time to make some enquiries with transport groups on Monday. Maybe I misunderstood, but I was not aware Ams was actually organising anything as we had not discussed specific details, and I was waiting on the information to make a decision on which way to go. Now that I have the name of Dogtainers company, perhaps I should contact them direct so that there is no more confusion, and they can probably answer all of my questions. As far as I am aware there have been some other generous offers of help for which I am eternally grateful, but no arrangements have been made with anyone else yet as I do not know yet how/if this will pull together, although please correct me if I've misinterpreted your post. My question re. the crate hire after offer of the voucher was a general one as I am unfamiliar with how it works, and I am considering my options of driving them myself or paying for them to be transported. If I drive them myself, I was wondering if the containers have to be collected from airports or if they are delivered to your door; and if they have to be returned to the start location or if there are multiple ports. I looked up the Dogtainers website after the offer, but could not find the answer to these questions as they only detailed air travel or Dogtainers doing the transporting which is only one of the options I am looking at. As I have also discussed, if I get them to Brisbane I will try and keep them at my house there for a week or 2 while I am in town so that they are together longer and so that a few people I have that are interested can have a look at them. Any that are not homed after that I will have to hand over to one of the rescue places that people have suggested. I hope this clears up the confusion?

Thanks for all the ideas/options. I will contact SCARS and Animal Welfare League on Monday/Tuesday (scars is not open monday's according to website). Just have to arrange to get them here now....where do I get a crate from? Are they hire-able for a one way trip?

Brown girl and other black girl

Black boy and girl

More pics, inclu. Brown Boy They do have their own water bowl btw....they just decided to copy mum who drinks out of the bucket in the yard (can't put this in the puppy pen cos I'm afraid they'll fall in when I'm not around!). Shows how tall they are getting though!

Thanks for the offers of help, etc. I may have found a home for 1 boy....and I have a few people interested in them thanks to my brother posting pics and msg on his facebook account (its good for something!). Still means I need to get the pups to Brisbane though as that is where these people are, and they want to see them....more shelters in Bris too if things don't work out I guess. Here are some of the updated pics, especially for those in CQ, took my brother a while to send them through....Pups are 5 weeks old in pics.

I am needing to find somewhere for the puppies to go at 7 weeks old, or if I can get them to Brisbane I might be able to look after them for another week or so...I can't take Mum dog because 'technically' she belongs to someone - if you find my earlier discussions this is discussed in detail, a whole 'nother story....I know this is not ideal and that a lot of breeders keep them up to 12 weeks, but a vet told me they can be removed from mum at 6-8wks old as long as they are weaned, and its honestly a lot better than they would get here being left to fend for themselves. I thought a rescue place may take them and by the time they were vet checked etc it would be close to 8wks before leaving littermates. I would have prefered for them to be de-sexed before re-homing so that they don't end up like their mother.

Thank you for your replies, I certainly feel a little more positive now than I did this afternoon. The pups are in Central Qld...I can probably (if I can manage 5 little rascals by myself in the car for a few hours!) get them to Rockhampton as I will be flying out of there to Brisbane. I looked at trying to fly the pups down but Virgin's website says they have to be 8wks old. The pups are Kelpie-ish cross I think....Mum looks very much like a Kelpie, but I doubt she's a purebred, obviously not sure about Dad - but probably around the same size. My brother came from Brisbane to visit this weekend and he has taken some current pics of the pups - he's going to put them on facebook too, and see if anyone he knows might be interested...still means they have to get to Brisbane though. I'll post some when he sends them to me tomorrow hopefully. (I did put some on a couple of earlier discussion topics I started, but not sure how to link them).

Does seem strange they wouldn't take them, if you hand them in as strays they should have to accept them? Maybe shelter was the wrong word for the place I tried? I thought it was a shelter, but it seems like maybe it is just a 'match up' service where they have animals in foster care around the place that they advertise for new homes? This is the only place in CQld that I am aware of though.

That's who I tried. They don't have any foster carers.

Central Qld area