Funds raised so far to keep Dave's furry friends with him:


So the book is paid for! Hurray! but donations still appreciated - see FAQ

Latest News
We've reached the goal!!! Thanks to everyone who gave. The book is paid for and today we have put up the Epilogue so that's all folks!

But please don't stop giving or spreading the word as Dave really needs a few thousand dollars more if at all possible.

Talking of spreading the word please consider voting for Save the Dragons in the "Rose & Bay" awards



Dave and Barbs are unpacking and generally settling in. Just the two of them as their pets are still in quarantine and the boys ar back at uni

Assuming Dave agrees I'll create epub and mobi format ebooks of Save the Dragons to be made available on this site next week.

[Also trying to get a handle on problems some Internet Explorer users have with the site - if the links don't work you can read the book starting here and donate here]

Previous news items

Welcome to SAVE THE DRAGONS

Hello, this is Dave Freer! Welcome to this new venture of mine. Hey I already said that kind of, well be welcome anyway!

Some of you know that we're emigrating from South Africa where my family have lived for generations to seek pastures new in Australia. We've been poked and prodded and evaluated and everything else, and been granted visas: so now its time to sell up and go and start afresh. I’m looking forward to being an Australian, and learning to fit in there.

Unfortunately there's one teeny tiny problemette: our cats and dogs. Only, if you’re us, that’s a huge Godzilla-size problem. They’re not a responsibility we take lightly or just abandon.

You see if we're to take them with us - which we really want to do (see FAQ) - they have to stay in quarantine and that's expen$ive, we'd kind of budgeted for it but what’s budgeted isn't enough given how the exchange rates have moved. Hence this site to try and make up the shortfall. Some details of how the money will be spent are also in the FAQ. Please read because it explains that $10,000 is really just the bare minimum required!

The Storyteller's Bowl

The idea is simple and borrowed from Schezerade and her companions of ages past: I tell you all a story and at critical moments I pass the hat around. When you've given me enough money I continue.

In fact I'm modifying this slightly - the idea is to put up a chapter a week of my latest book "Save the Dragons" assuming that I've received enough donations (the thermometers at the left tells you where we are). The book has 25 chapters plus an epilog. You get the first one free and then I collect $400 (US) per chapter (and per week).


If and when the book is published anyone who contributes more (in total) than $25 will get a personalized signed copy in Hardback posted to them (or if it doesn’t ever come out in hardback -all but my first book have done -- in the next most expensive format). And no matter what all the money raised goes to keeping the Freer furry animals together with their servants   that would be us   as we head off in search of a new life. 

More pesky details

You want to know more? who do think you are? Oliver Twist? Well OK hie thee over to the FAQ and you'll find pictures of the furry creatures in question, more information about me, South Africa and Australia, how this scheme works, etc.

Most importantly. If you want to read more of the book, go to the Donate page and use Paypal to transfer me some money.

Oh you want to know what the book is about? well it's about dragons and it's a comic fantasy and you can read more at the Book Contents link. And to make it easy for people coming back every week the most recent chapter is always available at the Latest tab

Finally the Links page has links to other sites with my babbling on it, sites with information about where we live in South Africa and where we're going to in Australia, a list of my books published to date and links to facebook and livejournal places where you can discuss the book and the project.

The Furry Members of the Freer Family

Dave and Barbs adopt rescue animals. Except for the Old English (who was actually born on my lap) all our beasties were the unwanted. We love them and want them very much. Freer Beasts live to venerable ages and always have a person to hand -- it’s a close bond. We are owned by four cats. We have 4 dogs, but one is very elderly and unlikely to live more than another few months (She’s blind and has been for about 14 of her 17 years . I am her seeing eye human, and until the last few years she didn’t let being blind slow her down at all.) She’s also gone deaf, so life can be interesting for us as she can’t hear you call. But Buttons has been a loyal beastie, and we’ll look after for as long as she’s not in distress. We know it won’t be long now, but we’re determined to make it happy and peaceful as possible. She won’t make it to Oz. But her feet are already on the edge of the rainbow bridge.


Roland

Then there is Roland (Roly), who is an Old English Sheepdog and a brainless, big-hearted, demanding moo-of-dog. He’s heroic and silly and spends most of his time within big black nose reach of me. Old English Sheepdogs have big black noses so you know which end to offer food to. There really isn’t any evidence of Old English being related to Polar bears or Citroens, they just look that way. Roly’s mother had 9 pups and he was the one she deposited on my lap. He got that black nose bitten by a puff-adder a few years back and we nearly lost him. I spent three days at the vet inside his kennel, just sitting with him.

Roland is almost certainly not a reincarnation of Einstein, unless the brains failed to make it into the new body, but people that only see him from a distance sometimes think he is


Pugsley & Wednesday

Then there are brother and sister Pugsley and Wednesday, who are Labrador-cross-traveling salesdog and were due to be put down by their pure-bred breeder before we intervened. Puggle is blond and weighs in at a sturdy 105 pounds, and he’d weight 305 pounds if he did not have to live with that cruelty to big sloppy-soppy Labby’s -- restriction of food, or he would eat until he exploded or his knees gave in. He’s good natured, soft-eared and everyone’s friend. Even the cats. He does like to go walkabout and nearly lost his life to a snare - we found him in the dark after many hours of searching. Wednesday is all too like her namesake (or vice versa) She’s black and slight and a bit finickity (for a Labrador cross) and an appalling thief with the best poor-me-I-am-soul-of-injured-innocence-big-brown-eyes (while she has the evidence sticking out of her mouth). She likes the occasional cuddle when no one else is around to see the tough girl facade slip. She had a gastro-intestinal-tract issue as a puppy and is possibly the most expensive rescue animal we have ever owned having spent 3 weeks at the vet, and had extensive surgery. She’s been fine for years, except for an allergy to cheap dogfood.

The Cats

The cats... In the fashion of cats, we humans are but humble staff, and you can’t get good help these days.

Legolas

Lord of the Manor is Legolas, or as my mum calls him, “Legless” - he likes being carried. He is the least elfish-slim cat in the universe, but when he was rescued - a feral kitten from one of the apartheid era slum-townships, he was not fully weaned and was very tiny indeed. I brought him home on a Sunday - not a catfood-selling shop to be found - so he started his life with us - probably his first solid food, on tiny flakes of spiny lobster and fresh salmon-pink slivers of trout. He hasn’t looked back (at a full food-bowl) since. He’s a menace when I prepare seafood or fish. And for reasons known only to a cat, he likes baked beans. And then he likes to lie on your chest. Not facing you....


La Duchess

La Duchess is she-who-must-be-obeyed. She’s a tortie from the SPCA. She’d obviously been fairly traumatized before being adopted and it took a long time to accustom her to human company let alone climbing into bed with them. But when a cat is cold and wet, what else are humans good for? She dances on her back feet and climbs up human legs. Stockings are made for this, really. She also just happens to go walking where you are going walking. It would be beneath her dignity to walk with you. No, she’s out for a stroll, and you, her faithful retainers just happen to be close at hand. Very odd, her humans. They do it all the time. As a kitten she also just happened to be climbing the same tree that we were picking pears from. You know those cartoons about a cat being stuck up a tree? They’re not funny.


Batman & Robin

Batman - named for his very large ears - believes he is out to save Gotham City. Or possibly pounce on it. He’s a tiny flat-sided tabby with an obsession for blue cheese and Salami. He really prefers being Legsie’s sidekick than to having to cope with his fluffly and beautiful sister Robin. She is fluffy and very slight - a tiny ball of bones and fur and not much else, but she’s brave, brave lady Robin and she’s not afraid of anything... when she’s safe in B’s arms anyway. She got caught out in a mountain thunderstorm and it has taken her years to even go outside, and she vanishes from strangers. Both Bat and Woosy-pussy Robin were sent to the our vet to be put down as unwanted kittens. Bless Shirley at the vet - she found them homes instead.


Background / FAQ

About Dave Freer

  • Who is Dave Freer?
  • Where is he now and where is he going?
  • What's the problem
  • Quarantine? In the modern world?
  • Who are the pets that need help?
  • How much are you hoping to raise and what will you spend the money on?

About The Book and the Site

  • The book
  • What is this Storyteller's Bowl idea?
  • What do I get for contributing?
  • What does Dave need from me?
  • What am I allowed to do/not do?
  • I want to contact Dave or the webmaster?
  • I've got a question about donating/PayPal and I need help?