Unspeakable Pain

AS I drove out from the breeding farm tucked away in a quiet part of Singapore, my heart grew heavier as I made the journey to the vet’s.

In a pet carrier on the passenger’s seat of my car, the skinny malnourished male Maltese we rescued started whimpering and broke out into baby-like cries. He was one of the four dogs we rescued from this breeder, perhaps one of the luckier four picked from the lot of some 80 toy-breed dogs who were confined to cages and pens, existing only for the sole purpose of producing puppies fronting the windows of pet shops across the island.

Rescued Chihuahua, looks to be about 3 to 4 years old

I was taken aback by the intensity of what I saw. The stench in the air was a stale mix of pet food and urine. From Poodles and Jack Russell Terriers (JRTs) to Shihtzus, Scottish Terriers and Malteses, dogs of all colours and sizes were reared for the sole purpose of commercial sales in such undesirable living conditions. As to how many of them actually end up in a loving home, I don’t know. What about the fate of those who never get sold? Are they doomed to a life of repetitive breeding?

Your guess is as good as mine.

The crying grew heavier, but this Maltese was already one of the luckier ones. Estimated to be around 5 years of age, Wally the Maltese had no major health issues except for a lack of teeth and undernourishment.

Wally the Maltese, malnourished and extremely thin

Baxter, exhausted and resigned to his fate

Accompanying him was Kit the Chihuahua, a lucky chap around 3 to 4 years old with no health issues and Baxter, a Shihtzu/Maltese Cross estimated 6 to 7 years old, who was suffering from a bout of dry eyes.

Eyes of desperation and hopelessness

Grossly malnourished, neglected and hardly able to stand

Then came Molly.

Sweet Ole Molly

A grand old dame around 8 – 10 years of age, white fur on her face, Molly the Jack Russell Terrier caught our volunteer’s eye because of how she was hobbling around, dragging a right hind leg that somehow looked detached from her body. Yet despite this apparent pain, her white furry face was eager as she wagged her short tail and sniffed her way around us. “That one, her leg broken. No good already,” murmured the breeder. “Accident.” 

No longer able to use her right hind leg

Upon picking Molly up, we gasped in horror as we saw a mesh of stitches slicing through the lower half of her body, which somehow reminded me of the cross-stitch homework I was forced to do as a primary school kid. Bits of thread dangled across the dark purplish flesh that lined her bloated stomach. The cause? A caesarian delivery where she was sloppily stitched up after her puppies were born. The breeder was probably in a hurry to get the puppies out for a quick sale.

A botched up job; her stitches would have been left on for at least 4 months!

Molly's right hip and hind leg was so badly fractured, it can no longer be saved. An amputation is inevitable. I can't begin to imagine the emotional and physical pain and abuse she has gone through.

I shuddered at the thought of this poor old dog having to carry babies, but the real shocker was to come at the vet’s, where an x-ray revealed her leg and hip was fractured in THREE places! Her femoral bone was pushed out of its socket like Venus and she had a broken right leg which resulted from a strong force that struck her. Her knee bone had totally snapped, which explained why her leg was dangling when she walked. The breeder had claimed that Molly had been hit by a car some months back but how could that be possible? She is a small dog and if she had been hit by a car at high speed, she would have been killed. It would not have been possible to have her leg fractured in three places and have no further injury. Could she have been kicked? Flung against the wall? One can only guess.

There was a more horrific discovery at the vet’s. While looking at the x-ray film of her fractured leg, Dr Teo noticed some shadow in Molly’s abdomen and decided to do a stomach x-ray as well. To our shock, Molly had THREE more puppies in her at that moment! We had initially thought that the breeder had not removed all the puppies from the previous C-section and that these could have been dead puppies left in her. However, if that was the case, she could have died of an infection. On further check, we realized that she was pregnant yet again!

Some visible foetuses in Molly's abdomen

Dogs generally come into season every six months or so. Was there a possibility that the stitches have been left on her for MANY months since her last heat and pregnancy? We can’t even begin to imagine.


How could the breeder have the heart to continue mating her despite her old age (imagine your grandmother giving birth time and time again!), broken right leg and raw Caesarian wound… I shudder at the thought of her puppies’ health, having been produced from such a frail, old mother dog plagued with issues of her own.


At such an age, dogs like Molly should not be giving birth as their bodies and legs are no longer able to take the weight of the full pregnancy. The decision by the vets and volunteers was to spare her the pain of yet another birth and one that would hopefully turn her life for the better. In other words, Molly would have to undergo:


1) An abortion of the puppies she was carrying because of her frail health, infected wound, badly fractured leg and hip; not to mention, old age.


2) Amputation of her right hind leg a month later as her leg can no longer be saved


With wicked breeders who treat dogs like Molly as puppy-churning machines, the onus really lies on the consumer to be discerning and alert when buying puppies from a pet store. Not only should breeders be subjected to regulations that encourage a certain humane breeding standard, proper medical living and quality of life for their dogs, consumers MUST do their homework and find out more about the puppy and its parents before committing to a lifetime of responsibility. Instead of creating more demand for such puppies and more suffering for dogs like Molly, why not adopt and save a life?

No hope in his eyes

Taking turns to have their ears checked

A society’s quality of living can in some ways, be reflected from the way we treat the animals around us. Before you fall in love with that puppy in the window, let the countless of dogs in Singapore’s many shelters and foster homes waiting for love have a chance at joining your family and turning their lives for the better.

If you would like to help with :

1) Molly’s vet bills
2) Boarding fees while they wait to be adopted
3) Adopting / fostering any of these four dogs who are looking for a good home

For contribution to vet bills, please email Fiona at dogs_ink@singnet.com.sg

To adopt Baxter (Shihtzu cross), please sms Irene at 8298 8129

To adopt Wally (Maltese) and Kit (Chihuahua), please sms Lynda at 9757 2528.

Story and pictures by Jean Loo

Editor's Note - We would like to thank Jean for helping us with the photography and story contribution.