Dear friends and friends of friends, please pass this on to anyone who loves dogs or knows anyone who loves dogs.

I, Jill Mc Callum, grew up in the countryside, in Ohio. I graduated from Akrom University with a degree in Fine Art and spent the next 20 years running a chain of bookstores. In 1993, burnt out and exhausted, I moved to Taiwan and spent the next 3 years regaining my life energy after which, it all went to the dogs!

I now have been teaching English in Taiwan for 16 years and rescuing local street dogs for the last 13. Taiwan is a small island in South-East Asia roughly 250 x 90km in size, with a population of 23 million and mostly covered by mountains and tropical forests.  However, over a million street dogs live on the fringes of the inhabited areas.  Until 15 years ago, dogs were at the bottom of the food chain and there are still many older people and children who are very fearful of dogs. Fortunately, as a result of the higher income levels and standard of living, many people have started taking street dogs as pets though, they are still preoccupied with purebreds and cuteness.

Within the last 13 years, I have neutered and released over 75 street dogs that were to skittish to be adopted.  Apart from these, I have rescued, neutered and found homes for over 225 others and provided love and comfort to 20 more who were beyond help, until they passed over peacefully . For various reasons such as the Taiwanese being more inclined to adopt small puppies and the economic downturn, finding homes for them has become increasingly difficult. Some of the dogs are in such bad shape when found, with illnesses ranging from distemper, heart worm, ehrlichiosis, demodectic mange, scabies, parvovirus to corona virus and in a general skin and bones condition that, by the time they are healed they are not small puppies anymore and are more difficult, if not impossible, to place.  My home has become a shelter for these dogs and I currently share my home and bed with 20 of them, which is becoming increasingly strenuous, money guzzling and time consuming in my older age.  Bending down to scoop up poop is just not as fun and easy as it used to be!  I will however, continue to rescue, rehome as well as CNR (catch, neuter and release) dogs that are not suitable for adoption.  All of this will be done outside of my home, though.

For all of the above mentioned reasons, I am taking 8 of these loving, beautiful dogs to the States in search of the perfect homes for them. ( The other 12 older dogs have become my friends and companions and will remain with me).  The 8 have all been neutered, had their first three ten-in-ones, annual boosters, lyme and rabies vaccinations.  They have recently been dewormed and have been receiving heart worm medication monthly from the age of 4 months old.  Veterinarian tests from two weeks ago, show no lyme disease, heart worm disease or ehrlichiosis. They have also been injected with international (TROVAN) micro-chips.  Lifetime health records, micro-chip documentations and recent rabies certificates attend each dog.

 I will be flying into San Francisco on the 3rd of July, 2009 where I will begin my road trip. I  will be making my way up the West coast to Oregon, Washington and as far as Vancouver.  I also plan to drive down to Idaho, into Utah and I am willing, as long as my money holds out, to fly or drive dogs to anyone who would be interested in enriching their lives by adopting one of these precious, loving, rescued dogs.

Please contact me with any queries or burning desires to adopt an exotic Taiwanese street dog.  I have spent about 70% of my monthly income over the past 13 years on bringing these dogs back to health and assisting in curbing the street dog population in my city. 

I would  much appreciate any donations towards this trip and my ongoing rescue program, as getting them over there and keeping them and myself alive, is a costly business.