A Union of Angels

The New Paper (21 March 2011)
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We’ve all seen homeless people on the streets. Many think it is terrible that a man or woman without a home should allow an animal to suffer with them. 

Considering the amount of animals at overfilled animal shelters and the number of cases of animal neglect and starvation we see every day, do you think these homeless dogs have it pretty good?

Angel spends her days snoozing on the sun deck

We met Angel 3 months back when she wandered into a shopping mall along Orchard Road, in search of help for her owner, Salma. That was when we realized what an intelligent dog she was and that angels do really exist. I have said it many times in our blog, animals enter our lives for a reason.

Angel entered Salma’s life when Salma needed a friend and had nothing in her life. Angel was Salma’s guardian angel, her guiding light, her buddy and the best friend Salma ever had. After many years of living a vagabond life, Angel had finally decided that Salma needed help and that’s when she found us. 

Angel and her family helper, Emi

We had initially thought that Angel was a young dog, maybe 3 or 4 years old, and that she merely looked old because she had led a vagrant life with her owner. However last month when we sent her for a health check, Dr Heng had noted that Angel would be at least 10 years old, or more, because her eyes had become cloudy due to old age. Her teeth was in excellent condition – in fact had you told us she had doggie false teeth, we would have believed you. Her teeth looked sparkling white and now on hindsight, we attribute that to the years of sharing chicken wings with Salma. Salma did tell us Angel loved chicken wings and Viola will vouch for that too!

On another note, Angel's eyes have gotten clearer since we last saw her. Viola takes excellent care of Angel and applies eye drops on her eyes regularly.

A rags to riches story, you say? To us, we're just delighted she now has a home and no longer has to roam the streets.

Today, Salma is in a Home for the Aged. She hardly calls these days and the last Angel visited was about a month back. After that visit, we had decided to have them stop seeing each other as we realized the visits were distressing to Angel. She would cry and not eat for days. Perhaps she didn’t cry as much as the initial visits, but nevertheless, she was still visibly upset.

Angel lazing by the pool in her new home

Angel has been living with a foster for slightly more than a month and seeing how much Angel loves her, Viola has decided to keep her for good. Words can't express our gratitude for Viola wanting to adopt a senior dog because most people would shun the thought of adopting a pet above the age of 3 or 4 years.

Age has indeed caught up with Angel – she spends most of her days sleeping and lazing around the house. When it rains, she suffers from severe arthritis and her joints hurt. She then has problems walking and starts to limp. Perhaps this stems from years of sleeping on the pavements with her previous owner. What if our paths with Angel had not crossed? She may still be living on the streets, in pain and hunger; getting cold and wet from the rain and with her eyesight failing, we can’t imagine what would have happened to her.

Contented with just simply doing nothing

Through animal communication, we found out that Angel is most happy with her bed and HER car. She communicated with us that she is grateful to Viola for giving her a bed and that she has never had a bed before. She also loves HER car - this stems from the fact that her new Mommy takes her for car rides! 

Viola tells us that  Angel still prefers eating leftovers instead of proper cooked food – guess old habits die hard. She behaves like a spoilt child these days, eating breakfast in bed, whining and refusing to take her supplements. Viola bathes Angel in her sunken bath tub and Angel gets to sleep on the bed with her. Angel loves the aircon and sleeping in late, getting grumpy if she is woken up before 10am!

Silk and satin sheets for a true Angel

After many years living a hard life, we are happy for Angel to move on, to live her own life now, and not to live for Salma. She is now living a life she truly deserves. Gone are the days of sleeping on the cold hard pavements or sitting in the park under the pouring rain.


Angel's eyes now light up when she sees her new mommy, Viola

Today, Angel has an angel in her life; caring and providing for her, loving her and being the guiding light in her life. At last, a union of Angels.


Written by Fiona