Guest guest Posted August 30, 2007 Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 The KAPS site has an interesting story of how a family in Korea have adapted their compact garden/outside area to accommodate the 13 dogs they have adopted. To read the story and see the photos, go to the KAPS site and click on the second article listed under 'Animal Issue' on right hand side of page. It has the title 'Soo-Young Hyun's Happy Family'. http://www.koreananimals.or.kr/ ----- Soo-Young Hyun's Happy Family Happy Family There are 13 dogs living peacefully and fondly at Mrs. Soo-Young Hyun's house. Before being saved by her, her husband, and her son, all of these kids had once been abandoned by their former owners and therefore had been left painfully wandering through the streets. Right after the rescue, she gave appropriate treatments to the sick ones. And as soon as they got better, she had them sterilized through operations. (Photo) A 99 square metered semi-western style house on the site of total 201.3m©÷ The place along the path that goes from the front porch till the main gate to the street is the space where these dogs safely get in and come out of the house, playing, running about, or taking exercise. In the right hand side flower bed, some vegetables like lettuce or kale are planted. And we put a low fence around the bed in order for the dogs not to dig up earth. These careful precautions prevent playful dogs from spoiling the garden, therefore leaving no room for dissatisfaction toward pet dogs. And consequently, we are enabled to live with our animals for a long time. It is because there are a whole lot of people who abandon their animals for the very simple reason that they do not like their animals doing little harm to their houses, which is often caused by playful baby-like animals with no harmful intention. (Photo) 'Gold' really likes every sort of balls, including tennis balls and golf balls. Even at this moment Gold is tightly holding a tennis ball in his mouth, as if not to let anyone take it from him. To the right, a husky named 'Blue' serves well as captain of the house. When Jaehyun's dad comes home from work, they all run out to welcome him barking all together. Blue, always taking the lead, silently threatens any other dog that, if ever, goes before him. By twitching its mouth grimly, Blue makes everyone come behind himself, tightening discipline among the dogs. As captain of all the dogs, Blue is both generous and charismatic all at the same time, which makes him a substantial captain. Blue does not bark at or behave fiercely to people other than his own family members. However, if anyone tries to touch him, Blue is said to warn him not to do so by twitching his mouth. It is in the warehouse in the garden or the multipurpose room in the house that all the dog houses are kept. This is a very good way to protect them from bad weather like rain, snow, wind, or strong sunlight. It is also good to keep their feed or goods and there is no inconvenience when they have to be fed at times of their meal in snow or rain. Moreover, it leaves nothing to be cleaned. In summer it is less heated and in winter it is less cold. Their room is floored by tile-setting, which makes it easier to clean up the room. And thin blankets are prepared for summer and thick ones for winter. (Photo) The whole garden of the house is divided into two parts, and we let the kids dig out earth in one half of our garden, which is enclosed with a fence. By giving them their own space to play and dig up soil they have learned where they can play and where they should not. The owner boasted about her own dogs, saying that they keep the rules quite well. The manners of animals are generated by training and consideration given by the person who keeps them. Problems can be tackled, if we wait and show our concerns for them only a little more. (Photo) 'Bongbongee' is taking a rest under the laundry hanging rack in smothering heat. The hanging rack was put there deliberately in order to let them take a rest in the shade. The conventional type of Korean outdoor toilet that used to be in the yard was covered and made into a room for the dogs. We put a couch in the front space before the main gate so that these kids can enjoy taking a rest on it. (Photo) Whenever Mrs Soo-young Hyun takes a seat there to relax on the couch, these kids make a fuss and gather around her in order to sit right beside her before any one does. (Photo) Narie is the most modest and quietest, so it is called 'Princess'. Narie is now held in Mother's arms. Long ago, a hybrid miniature pinscher, named Shorty, was abandoned in the hospital by his former owner for its having thrown up roundworms and excreted bloody stools. Now Shorty has grown enough to receive the sterilization operation. Shorty is the youngest of all the kids, so it still plays the baby. (Photo) The good and smart retriever Gold. And a beagle 'Bebe' who used to walk around, swollen in bruises all over its body. Behind Gold is Tory who was abandoned under a car when it was less than 2 months old. Tory is a hybrid, now watching for an opportunity to become a daring leader. Mrs. Soo-young Hyun said that she had to move three times so far and adjust the arrangement of her garden several times until everyone in her family and her dogs felt easy being together. The whole yard was plastered with cement and waterproof urethane, so it was made easy to clean up their urine and feces and wipe the floor using water. Therefore, it was possible to keep the environment clean and tidy all the time. At first, she thought it would be better to have the garden covered with earth to grow the grass and trees. However, the trees became toothpicks for these kids and the grass died before growing because of their urine. People in the neighborhood kept advising her to get rid of the dogs saying that it was all because of them. But whenever she was told to do so, she told herself endlessly that she would never abandon any one of her family. Then, she covered her garden with grit this time. But a cloud of dust rose heavily very often and it was not easy to clean up their urine and feces. Moreover it smelt bad. Finally she graveled her garden. But the kids' feet looked painful to walk on the gravel. And their urine flew down and pooled somewhere under it. So eventually it got to stink. It was no good after all. Eventually she decided to cover her garden with cement and urethane with her own hands. Although it was not perfect, this was the least expensive and the most convenient way in many other aspects that she had ever tried up until then. She said she had experienced a whole new happiness working in the garden with her family all together. (Photo) Jae-hyun liked animals even when he was very little. He used to crawl under the car after a street cat which ran under it to get away. Once when he visited his relative living in the countryside, he disappeared with one of the dogs. Everyone was made to search for him in every corner of the village. Finally he was found sound asleep in a dog house, together with the dog in his arms. All her family were surprised and amused to see him there. When the frog eggs hatch and tadpoles come out, he would be pleased to let them in the stream of water that flew down the mountain before our house. His love toward life was endless. It is said that half of the kids who are now living in his house were brought by this boy. ______________________________\ ____ Get the World's number 1 free email service. .au Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 Thank you for your post. For those who couldn't find a way of getting into KAPS English site and still want to see the photos, please use the below link to locate the article. http://koreananimals.or.kr/english/ aapn , Cate <cateanna wrote: > > The KAPS site has an interesting story of how a family > in Korea have adapted their compact garden/outside > area to accommodate the 13 dogs they have adopted. > > To read the story and see the photos, go to the KAPS > site and click on the second article listed under > 'Animal Issue' on right hand side of page. It has the > title 'Soo-Young Hyun's Happy Family'. > > http://www.koreananimals.or.kr/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.