A well travelled canine with significant class.
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We found her one day in Lucun village, an ancient and very pretty place in Anhui province, south central China. She had been abandoned outside a restaurant in an empty beer box. We reckon she was barely three weeks old.
I was the one who found her. I knew there was no way I could leave her like that. My immediate thought was that we could adopt her and she would become the hotel mascot for our soon to open Banyan Tree Huangshan. We took her to our pre-opening office. She was so young we had to decide how we would feed her and after a lot of deliberation we bought some baby formula, a baby bottle and milk fed her for a week or so.
Then there was the problem of what to do with her at night time. I hatched a plan to smuggle her in and out of my hotel room where I was staying on the edge of the city. I was lucky I had a bag large enough to keep her in and she didn’t move too much every time I walked past the reception desk. She was so small.
I was even able to start toilet training her in the bathroom. Sounds gross, but it was easy to clean up. Well, she was resilient and kept growing. Then we started feeding her congee; a truly Chinese street dog.
The owner of the building where our pre-opening office was situated had other dogs. I was a bit concerned because he did not look after them at all well. One of them got worms and died. Absolutely tragic. To be honest, I was quite concerned for Lucy.
It was then I received a phone call from my boss at the time, Des Pugson, and was told I would be transferring to Lijiang in Yunnan Province of South West China. I was happy but also heartbroken as I had no idea what would happen to Lucy. I resolved to take her with me, as complicated as that might seem. It was the only option. There was no way I would leave her behind, and so it was agreed that once I became settled in Lijiang, we would arrange for her to be transported down. Amy, my personal assistant, would look after her in the meantime.
Then Amy got a transfer to the corporate office in Shanghai to be the PA to Des. To my relief, amazingly she agreed to take Lucy with her to Shanghai and look after her.
Some weeks later when I was finally settled in my new hotel in Lijiang, Lucy was sent down to me and I brought her to her new home. It was only then that I was told she had nearly died because of canine parvovirus. Three of the other dogs that had been living in the same house in Lucun had died. Apparently Amy and Des had financed her trip to the ICU. Against all odds she was able to pull through. Strong street dog genes I guess. But what extraordinary generosity on the part of my work colleagues, a gesture that I only found out about later. Of course I paid for everything when I found out.
Lucy quickly settled into her new home in Banyan Tree Lijiang and was soon adopted by the housekeeping staff. Typically they are not fond of dogs down in that part of China but the housekeeping team fell in love with her. The assistant housekeeper used to come and play with her and even looked after her when I had to go back to Australia for visits.
I even took her with me in the car for the three hour drive up into the Tibetan highlands when I visited our sister hotel, the Banyan Tree Ringha, which I was also responsible for at the time. She was a bit naughty and once got out and started chasing sheep, with me in hot pursuit. Although, being at high altitude, that didn’t last long. At 3,500m we both soon ran out of breath and agreed we wouldn’t do that again…
Lucy had a brilliant time in Lijiang. Being a street dog she was an amazing hunter; rats, mice (and the occasional shrew) stood no chance. And there were plenty of those all around the hotel because of the cornfields. She would proudly catch them and leave them well licked and very dead in the middle of the lawn. Unfortunately, one day a rat got the better of her and she ended up with a nasty scratch on her nose which turned into a bacterial infection. It got pretty bad and after some severe loss of pigmentation and fur, the super strong antibiotics finally helped. But not before some significant scarring. She bears the marks to this day but happily the skin has mostly recovered.
In Lijiang she was a fantastic walker and I would take her through the old town of Shuhe at least three times a week. By then she was a medium size dog, very pretty and no threat to anybody. I could never understand why terrified Chinese girls would jump out of the way is if they were going to be eaten by some kind of bear. Oh well, never mind.
After four years in Lijiang and Ringha, it was time to move on and Des once again organised for a transfer down to Penang. By now Lucy and I were inseparable and there was no way on earth I would leave her behind in China. So I arranged to bring her with me to Malaysia. Due to the cost involved some of the local Chinese thought I was nuts.
My research had narrowed it down to a company who seemed to have very good references. They would escort her door-to-door, deal with all the customs administration, the micro chipping, the vaccinations, transportation, flights and the quarantine, for the princely sum of AUD3,500. They also promised a daily photo and video record just to reassure me.
It was a very sad day when they came to collect her in a metal cage and I watched her drive out of the hotel. I can’t bare to think what was going through her mind. Although I did give her an old well worn T-shirt of mine and her favourite toy ‘Spacey’ to accompany her on the long trip down. It would take nearly 3 weeks. As promised, I received daily updates and was able to track where she went. The company was fantastic. Absolutely flawless and she arrived right on time to her new home in Penang. There was much excitement that day.
We have been in Penang nearly a year and a half now. The routine is quite fixed. My working hours are fairly lengthy and it’s difficult for me to take her out so I was able to engage the services of a dog walker three times a week. At least she is guaranteed some kind of exercise getting out of our little bungalow, and Audrey, the carer, also looks after her whenever I go down to Australia.
A short while after arriving in Penang I discovered there is rabies in Malaysia, so getting Lucy out to wherever I go next will prove an interesting quarantine challenge. Never mind, she’s been through a lot, one more hurdle won’t make much difference I am sure! Bless her.
The story will continue! To see lucy’s picture gallery, click here.
