Discovering Angel

Many weeks have passed and Angel is still adjusting to life without her owner, Salma. And like Salma, she misses her freedom on the streets. Angel is making some improvement - she does not seem as attached to Salma as she previously was and is starting to eat three meals a day! But she still jumps for joy when she sees Salma, although she doesn't cry too much after leaving the home in which Salma is in. Her desperate cries and whines never fail to tug at our heartstrings and bring tears to our eyes. Salma is still missing her Angel. She calls us frequently, begging and pleading with us to discharge her from the home to be with Angel, promising to get a job and to take good care of her guardian Angel.

Angel in her foster home

Last week, Salma called again and sobbed badly into the phone, telling us she misses Angel. Our hearts went out to her once again and we arranged for a friend (CG) to bring Angel to visit Salma. Both were so delighted and after Angel had left the home, Salma called to thank us. We would also like to thank CG for bringing Angel to the home and also for buying biscuits, Kit Kat (Salma's favourite!) as well as for giving Salma some pocket money to buy her favourite snacks at the home. 

On her way to see Salma

Angel enjoying her time with Salma.
(The home does not allow photography of its residents. As such, we are unable to show pictures of Angel with Salma)

 As always, Angel is a different dog when she is with Salma. Her eyes come alive!

Also some time last week, we took Angel to Mt Pleasant to see Dr Heng, an eye specialist. We were concerned about the cloudiness in her eyes as well as her wobbly hind legs. Very much to our surprise, Dr Heng estimates Angel to be at least 9 years old! When we first rescued her, the vets at Redhill estimated her to be about 2 or 3 years old since her teeth looked really clean and good. We were extremely shocked that Dr Heng told us that Angel is definitely 9 years old or more, because a dog's eyes don't lie; Angel's eyes have become cloudy due to old age. She has extremely young looking teeth, probably because Salma may have fed her chicken wings and chicken bones, and this gave Angel’s teeth a good regular cleaning.  

Angel's hind legs are weak and wobbly from years of poor nutirtion and lack of proper food

This discovery saddens us greatly as this means both Angel and Salma walked hours each day from Rowell Road to Orchard Road, every day, to while away time for so many years and poor Angel, walking for hours at her age, with no proper food nor nutrition.

Angel was fostered by Ms L for two weeks and we're grateful to Ms L for buying lots of supplements for Angel to beef her up but the years of malnourishment and hard life has taken its toll on her body. Salma, on many occasions, told us that Angel was 12 years old but looking at Angel's teeth, we often felt that Salma had remembered incorrectly. Now we think that she may be right and it pains us to think that Angel has perhaps spent at least 10 years of her life with Salma, only to be separated by us. Did we do the right thing by separating them and putting Salma in the home and taking Angel off the streets, but in the process, causing grief to both parties? We are still hoping to find a home that would allow Angel to live with Salma but as the days go by, our hopes are getting dimmer each day. 

Angel loves human companionship but does not get on well with other dogs, especially those bigger than her! We don’t blame her though. She has spent her entire life living on the streets, with humans, not other animals.

Stay tuned to this blog while we continue to do our best to find the ultimate solution for Angel and Salma.

Written by our young volunteer - Jo-Ann Teo, 16 yrs old