Our super great animal rescue liason, Mindy, from Taiwan, flew in late last night, and brought with her the sweetest young dog named Derek. As you may know, Taiwan has experienced several devastating Typhoons over the past couple of years and they already have a severe pet overpopulation problem, but with the Typhoons, many people lose their homes and as a result, there are even fewer homes for the dogs. In Derek’s case, he was apparently tossed off a motorcycle, by a woman! Mindy saw the incident and tried to speak to the woman but she quickly took off, leaving Mindy to grab Derek and get him off the street before he was hit by a car.

As always, we are faced with the moral dilemma in taking a dog from an0ther country when we have plenty of dogs who need homes right in our own backyard. In Derek’s case, a family who had already adopted one of our dogs from Taiwan last year, had recently inquired about rescuing another dog from Taiwan as a companion for the one they currently have. It was shortly after they inquired, that Mindy asked me about whether we might have an option for Derek. So, we all met at the airport last night and Jim took Derek as a ‘foster to adopt’; which we liken to a ‘rent to perm’ kind of deal, only with dogs. Seriously, barring any bad chemistry problems between the dogs, I’m quite sure Derek has a permanent home already, because:

a) He’s flippin’ adorable! He has really soft, cream colored fur with apricot tips, and a super long plume of a tail.

b) He’s less than a year old, playful and really sweet with other dogs

Derek took an immediate liking to Jim’s hat at the airport and we had a heck of a time getting it away from him (see pics). In the car, he turned his attention on tearing up a napkin, and tossing a “toy”, just so he could pounce on it. This was after more than 24 hours of time in a kennel in the belly of an airplane, traveling through three airports and layovers.

Here are some pics of Derek’s arrival for your enjoyment.