Niall Harbison Profile picture
Dec 21, 2023 8 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Genuinely the best boy there ever was. Sorry to say that Derek left us this evening. He was the most unassuming, gentle, gracious and loving older gentleman I’ve ever met. I know he touched lots of lives but he’ll leave some remarkable memories… (1/8) 🧵 Image
He never wanted much in life at all. His health went downhill very fast in the last 24 hours but we managed to get a little walk, some sausages and we slept for 3 hours together. It was perfect (2/8)
Derek come in on the 15th October last year. He had no dignity, nobody cared about him and he was hours from death alone. My dream last year was to get him to Christmas 2022. It turned out to be a lot longer even though his healthy started horrific (3/8)


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It was amazing watching Derek get better. Derek always tried to talk. Like when he was in the vets in the early days he was clearly saying “thanks for the help now don’t leave me” (4/8)
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Of course Mr Derek loved his VIP suite. He never had a thing in his life before and he was so proud of it. He used to put himself to bed early. For man months he just slept in their recovering from his hard life. It was his haven (5/8)

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As Derek got better he made a few friends. He used to be the only one to hand around with Britney and he took little Rodney under his wing when he came in. Little Del Boy and Rodney 🥰 (6/8)
In the last 2 months Derek has been living with me. If he loved his VIP suite the the couch was the luxury he never knew he needed in life. He was always as quiet as a mouse in the corner. My theory is Derek was so quiet and kind to everyone as he didn’t want to risk ever going back to his old life on the streets. I always think of him as just the most grateful dog ever (7/8)
He passed gracefully and surrounded by all the people who cared for him and with his belly full of sausages.

My friends said to me I should take younger less sick dogs next to ease the pain but I disagree. It was only 14 months but every day was cherished and meant the world to Derek.

Derek. The best boy there ever was. Not even a doubt about it 🥰 (8/8)Image
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More from @NiallHarbison

Sep 30
I shouldn’t really have favorites with the street dogs but Poppy is a dog I’ll spend extra time with daily.

I called her that because one of her ears always pops up.

She looks spectacular today but our friendship only started when she came close to death (1/8) 🧵 Image
I fed her for 6 months but she would never come close. When she did she would growl at me. Any attempt to touch her and she would snap and try to bite.

I put her down as aggressive and brought her food. Then it all changed (2/8) Image
It wasn’t easy and I didn’t capture the hard part on camera but we caught her to sterilize her (neuter / spay).

Getting her into the box was rough and she wasn’t happy at all. But I was determined to get her sterilized to not have to have puppies. (3/8)
Read 8 tweets
Sep 28
I wanted to tell you a story of a little dog that we helped save tonight.

It’s a story of hope for her and getting her dignity back but this is also a story for anybody who struggles in life.

It’s a story of how dogs and humans can be down but are never out… (1/10) Image
It’s my birthday today and I’m 45.

My dog friends bought me a banana hat and I got 2 cakes 🥰.

Remarkably I woke up and people were also donating $4.50 in all their local currencies to help me with dogs.

My wish was to find a dog to help today (2/10)
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I got my wish at the very end of the day of helping dogs. I met this girl at a local shop.

She’s in absolute bits with her skin and eyes. She has hit rock bottom. It was time to get her a safe place and bring her in to @wearehappydoggo even though it was late (3/10)
Read 11 tweets
Sep 26
Mario was badly beaten up on the streets of Thailand.

Some kind locals handed him to me with a broken leg and a hand made wooden splint on the 18th of April.

This is his story with the happiest of endings now… (1/8) 🧵
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You can see how bad he was here when I took him straight to the vet. A shattered leg, bloodshot eyes, severe bruising and various other injuries.

Information was very sketchy but the first priority was fixing him up which we did… (2/8)


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His leg was literally handing off. We got him booked in at a big hospital where they inserted metal plates and pins.

His mood was always upbeat and he healed in about a month. His attack didn’t harm his mental outlook one single bit (3/8)


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Read 8 tweets
Sep 25
Taylor Swift had been tied up for months and used for breeding. Locals had been furious and we tried to free her but she was seen as a money making machine.

Finally in June after 3 months we got her and her 2 puppies.

No more living on a chain on cold concrete… (1/8)🧵 Image
Getting her out of there was the best feeling in the world.

On an earlier visit I’d seen her being slapped for not producing milk. There were 8 puppies but 6 suddenly “found homes”. My guess is they died as conditions were bad and mum was so stressed (2/8)
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It was lovely to get mum out of there. Despite her upbringing she was nothing but pure love for humans.

She used to hand around Tina’s grave area the whole time. Probably because of the nice grass but it reminded me of her. Taylor Swift was free though (3/8)


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Read 8 tweets
Sep 24
A beautiful story of recovery and hope for this little puppy of 5 months old.

She had a massive brain injury but look at her today. An incredible come back…
It’s always hard to get the full story with the dogs. We think she was there for 2 days.

It was a severe hit to the head so at best a glancing blow from a car (common) but at worst someone with a shovel or spade or similar…
I’m lucky I have the infrastructure being built with @wearehappydoggo to help Sybille and to find little Pippilotta a home.

But make no mistake about it that Sybille was the one teaching her to walk again for weeks in her own house. That’s the hard part…
Read 5 tweets
Sep 24
McMuffin is the sickest dog I’ve ever rescued here on the streets of Thailand.

She was covered in cancer, 500 blood sucking ticks and was hours from death.

This is the uplifting story of how today she is celebrating a big birthday party in Germany (1/12) 🧵
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I will never forget the smell or how broken she was in the vets when I made this video.

We took her to 2 different vets and both said there was no way she could make it. They didn’t even know how to start treating her.

She’d been thrown out on the street when sick (2/12)
I’m not ashamed to say that I went home that night when she stayed in the vets and I made peace with myself that the best bet was to put her out of her misery. She was just too sick.

I didn’t sleep that night but knew it was for the best (3/12)
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Read 13 tweets

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