Animals at Risk

PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH.

In the past two weeks, we have seen two horrific accidents involving street dogs. We didn’t witness the accidents, but the sight of Dawn with part of her leg sliced off and Tiger, with his horrific injuries, have made us think how careless humans put animals at risk. As if life isn’t tough enough for them, living on the streets with no food nor shelter, these poor street dogs have had to endure weeks of pain. What if workers had not informed us of the dogs’ plight? What if we were there at a different time from the dogs? Then we would never have seen them nor have been able to offer help and they would have gone on suffering.

Dawn’s daughter went home on Friday, having rested a night at the Vet after being sterilized. After we returned her, while driving off to have dinner, we saw a skinny brown dog lying by the side of the road. We pulled over to check if he was perhaps injured . . . .dead . . . We whistled as we approached, not wanting to shock the dog and risk being bitten or turned upon. There was no movement from the dog but when I glanced at it’s chest, I saw that there was breathing. We called him a few more times and he got up slowly. As he walked away, the sight of his bleeding scrotum made my knees weak and I felt a sense of nausea and sadness overcome me.  His scrotum was terribly swollen and it was almost torn off! His hind legs wobbled as if his joints were loose and he walked slowly from his pain.

Eating some canned food

Bleeding at the anus and scrotum

We gave him some canned food while a friend went in to ask the workers if this was their dog. A Chinese man came out and told us that it was not their dog although about three years ago, the dog had wandered into his factory and made it his home. The Chinese man also mentioned this was the third time that this dog had been hit by a vehicle – but this was the most serious accident of all. We asked if we could take the dog to the Vet immediately, half expecting him to scold us, as did Dawn’s lady boss but instead he said he would ask his workers to help us catch the dog and put him in the carrier for us. He even took out his wallet and offered $50 for the medical bill. Looking at the extent of the injuries, we knew that the vet bills could possibly exceed a thousand dollars but his kindness and generosity was genuine and we accepted his $50 contribution to the bill. He told us the dog’s name was Tiger. We did inform him that should the Vet advise us to put the dog down, we would, and he was agreeable to that. We didnt want to be blamed for not returning the dog if he could not be saved.

We took Tiger to Mt Pleasant Animal Medical Centre’s newly opened branch at Block 113, Bukit Merah View and he was quiet the entire journey. When we arrived at the clinic, he was examined by Dr Ang, who was amazed at how sweet and gentle Tiger was. Surely his name did not suit him! Tiger was cooperative and allowed us to touch and examine him. Often he would look at us with such pleading eyes, telling of his weeks of pain and sorrow.

Examined by Dr Ang

His scrotum was almost torn off

 Sadness in his eyes

Dr Ang suspected that he could have been hit by a speeding car. His scrotum was still bleeding although she felt that the accident had taken place at least three weeks ago! He had lost a lot of blood. It was almost closing time so we put him in the cage to rest, and Dr Ang would check on him the following morning.

The sweetest darling, not wanting us to leave him

He was given some canned food, which he gulped in one mouthful and then he lay down slowly on his side. The pain and sadness in his eyes were obvious. We knew that despite the pain, he would have a good night’s rest, not having to worry about being attacked or picked on by dogs or workers. He would be alright.

Finally, a good rest

The following morning (Saturday), Dr Ang did an x-ray on Tiger and found that he did indeed have fractured hips, possibly when he was hit by the car / lorry but because the accident took place some three weeks back, the hip bones were already slowly fusing back together. She commented that the pain he has had to endure would have been quite unbearable. It was decided that surgery on his hip was not necessary and thus, only the open wounds on his scrotum and anus would be treated. Surgery on Tiger lasted two hours and apart from having fractured hips, it was found that he had internal bleeding, which was expected from being hit, was anemic, and had LOTS of tape worms in him.

Fractured hip bones

(Tapeworms are parasites that attach themselves to dogs' intestines. They are flat and segmented, white in colour and can grow up to 20cm long. Dogs acquire tapeworms by chewing or biting at an itchy area on its skin. They may swallow a flea that contains cysticercoids which once inside the dogs' intestine, will develop into a tapeworm. The tapeworm will then attach itself to the dogs' intestine and feed on the nutrients.)

Tiger whined a lot when he awoke from surgery, constantly wanting someone to pat and love him. Dr Ang and the nurses were extremely caring and gave him lots of extra attention and doggie treats. They even took him outside for slow, short walks. It must have been the first time he experienced love.

The day after surgery; his wound is healing well

Looking slightly more hopeful!

We visited him on Sunday and he wagged his tail when he saw us. There was some life and hope in his eyes. As it was near closing time and there were no other patients in the clinic, we were allowed to let him out of his cage to walk about. He jumped out of his cage as if he had a new lease of life and walked around the room. Tiger has a really sweet temperament and he walked happily around the room, sniffing the cages, shelves, bins etc and we could see he was happy. He had lots of treats again!

His wound is rather huge as his entire scrotum had to be removed. He is still on pain killers but Dr Ang says his wound is healing extremely well. In our volunteer work, we are often amazed at how resilient animals are, their tolerance of pain, their loyalty and their strong will to survive. We often pray for miracles when we rescue animals and we have been truly blessed because most times, the animals can be saved. His wound is still raw but Tiger is doing well and should recover fully.

Tiger is a rather small sized dog. Seen here relaxing in the clinic. Dr Ang estimates him to be about 4 yrs old.

He will be staying at the clinic till possibly Tuesday or Wednesday, when his wound has dried up and healed entirely as where he lives is a forklift company and it is dirty and grimy. We don’t want his wound infected and besides, he needs to be on medication for a few more days.

Waiting for his treats!

Dr Ang also mentioned that because of the tapeworms in him, he is undernourished and for the next two weeks, needs lots of good, nutritious food to beef him up. This sounds like we’ll be going to the industrial estates more often than we would like to!

Coincidentally, as we were leaving the clinic after our visit, a worker from Tiger’s factory called to ask how he was doing and if he could be saved. In all these years, this was the first time we have ever had a worker call us to show concern over a dog and we were extremely touched that in their own way, they did seem to care for him.

For the next few days, we will continue to visit Tiger with nutritious food, to fatten him up. We are happy that we were able to help him and to alleviate his pain and suffering. The eyes are windows to the soul. Look at Tiger’s eyes and tell us if you see happiness and hope!

A song to share with all our readers. For all drivers who feel the need to speed, slow down. Animals have feelings too.

Lady Dawn - A New Beginning

Volunteers went to Mt Pleasant to fetch Dawn and take her home. She did not seem as fierce as when she was first admitted to the clinic. Vet Technicians told us that she was still rather unpredictable but she would not growl or try to attack as long as they did not try to touch her. Somehow they managed to leash her and coax her into the carrier.

Throughout the journey back to her factory, she was banging on the gate of her carrier, trying to get out but when we told her she would be home soon, she somehow seemed to understand and quieten down.

Home. Waiting to be let out.

When we arrived at her factory, all the other dogs on the compound seemed to know she had come home and there was a huge welcoming party for her, about 6 dogs gathered around excitedly. The minute she was let out of her carrier, you could see her joy at being home. She ran round and round in circles – yes, RAN! Then she sniffed all the other dogs that were there and it was obvious she was STILL the Alpha dog. You should see the body language of the other dogs when Dawn sniffed them, all of them cowered in fear and one poor dog peed in fear. Then Dawn ran to the Indian worker and he patted her. After all that excitement, she bolted to the back of the factory where she usually stays. And believe me, she can outrun any four-legged dog. It was interesting to see her running so happily to the back of the factory and when she ran, all dogs in her way just dived under lorries to get out of her way. Survive? Definitely.

Worker letting Dawn out

Getting a pat from the worker

See the dog cowering in fear when Dawn sniffs her

Dawn is rather big and strong (centre)

Trying to befriend them in order to catch the pregnant dog

Dogs living on Dawn's compound

We then told the Indian worker that since we had brought the injured dog back, he should now help us catch the pregnant dog, as previously promised. He then said the Lady Boss said we were not to take any more dogs from her factory. How could it possibly be HER dogs when she neither feeds nor cares for them and they are all not licensed. All she does is allow them to breed endlessly. We got angry with the workers and told them they didn’t keep to their word but they just stood around smiling at us. Then we saw the Thai worker who had helped us catch Dawn and asked if he would help us catch the pregnant dog. He managed to easily catch her and she was too heavily pregnant to even try to run. She just surrendered.

Later the Indian workers told us that this was also Dawn’s puppy from another previous litter- so she had this heavily pregnant dog, who seems about a year old or so, plus the four 4-mths old puppies at the back of the factory. We paid the Thai worker for helping us catch the pregnant dog and quickly left. The Vet closes at 8pm and it was a long drive through peak traffic.

Throughout her journey to the Vet, she was extremely quiet.

When we arrived at the Vet, the staff had no problems carrying her out of the carrier. She was extremely sweet, submissive and fearful – the total opposite of Dawn.

Dawn’s daughter will stay at the clinic till Friday evening before we take her back to the matriarch’s home. We’ll leave you to decide who the matriarch is – Lady Boss or Lady Dawn!

Friday night when we return Daughter home, we will try to catch another pregnant dog from this same factory. This one has a different colouring and marking from Dawn, so we doubt its from her, but she does live there as well. When we are done with the pregnant dogs, we will then start sterilizing Dawn puppies, before moving on to a new area.

It may seem like there is no end to what we do, and believe me, some days we do feel that way too! We usually work our way through various factories and sometimes just when we think we have sterilized all the dogs there, we walk the streets and our hearts sink . . . . .we see more cute tiny puppies running on the roads, sometimes playing and rolling in the middle of the roads, sometimes sniffing garbage bins for food and that’s when we know our work is not yet done.

Note : We apologize for the poor quality of the photographs taken. It was wet and dark.

The Harsh Reality

Updates (7 July 2010)

Dawn is ready to be discharged and to return home to the factory where all her puppies are anxiously awaiting her return. Her wounds have dried up and healed nicely and we'll send her home this evening. Volunteers will check on her regularly and ensure she is fine. Thank you everyone for your contributions, care, concern and encouragement. Without the support of all Dawn's Fairy Dog-Mothers, we will not be able to continue with the work we do, nor help more of Dawn's fellow strays. There are so many more from where she comes from. From the bottom of our hearts, Thank You everyone.

As always, on my stray feeding rounds, I sometimes get a crowd of Indian workers hovering around, some amused, some curious; watching me dish out food from my mobile kitchen (my car boot). I am careful not to go to poorly lit or deserted areas when I am alone. Sometimes the workers who speak English will approach me and ask, “Dog eat?” I just nod or say “yes” for fear of striking up a conversation and getting myself into any unnecessary trouble.

Industrial areas at late night sure isn’t a place for a lady but when I know the stray dogs line the streets anticipating my presence and perhaps getting their only meal of the week, I do it. Plus the fact that I need to go into the industrial sites to look for puppies and female dogs for sterilization, as well as dogs who have been injured. For minor injuries such as small dog bites, infections etc – I get medications and antibiotics to put into the food for the dogs and I monitor them over the next few days. These dogs are hardy creatures and very often they recover and their wounds dry up in no time. Only if it gets worse, do I catch them and take them to the vet; but this option costs a lot more so I prefer medicating them in the industrial estates.

Over the years, I have made many friends, both with the strays in the industrial estates, as well as the workers. Workers that I have observed to care for the dogs, I provide them with big bags of kibbles on a regular basis and many of them have my mobile number; they call me when the strays in their compound are in an accident, unwell or due for sterilization; sometimes these strays accidentally swallow poison and I need to rush them to the vet. I care for these strays like I do for my own dogs. Feeding and sterilizing them so they don't reproduce are the best I can do for them since I can't take each and every puppy or dog home. When I feed the strays, I commonly ask the workers in the factories, “baby have? Mommy have?” and they will bring me in to see if there are any puppies or female dogs for sterilization.

Last Wednesday night while I was on my usual feeding rounds, I asked a worker from India, my usual question, “baby have? Mommy have?” and his answer was “many many baby. Mommy accident no leg.” Concerned I immediately took my torch light and asked him to show me the dogs. I saw four puppies, about four months old with their mommy, deep inside the factory compounds. Mommy had half her right hind leg missing and I could smell her rotting flesh from a distance.

Injured hind leg. (Picture taken at the factory)

Mommy was not too friendly with me; perhaps because she was in pain and also protecting her puppies. I asked the worker what happened and he told me that a car had crushed her hind leg almost a month ago, and when the accident happened, her leg broke and another stray dog came and took her broken leg and ran off with it. I tell myself, that stray ran off with the broken leg because it was food. That’s how hungry these strays often are. In all my years of feeding, sterilizing and rescuing strays, I often feel I have seen it all but some days, the pain and sadness gets to me. . . . .Anyhow, I told the workers I would come back the following night with a pet carrier and I asked if he would help me catch the injured dog as she was rather aggressive with me, but friendly to the workers. He agreed to help and gave me his mobile number.

A closer look at her mangled hind leg, before rescue.

The following night, together with two other volunteers, we went to the factory and telephoned the worker to have him meet us at the front gate of the factory. When he came out, he told us that their boss said we could not take the dog to the vet, and that the dog was recovering. We were upset with his boss’ comment and figured we would wait till the boss left for the day before we went in to catch the dog; but then again, it was 7pm and the vet would close at 8pm. With peak traffic, we would never make it before closing time and where would we house her for the night if we had to wait till the next day? So I asked him if I could speak with his boss. He agreed and brought me into the compounds. The boss was a lady in her 40s and she was wiping her Merc when I approached. I politely thanked her for letting me enter her factory grounds and offered to take the dog to the vet, explaining there were maggots, the dog’s leg was rotting and if she could imagine the pain the dog was enduring. I promised to return the dog to her in a few days time after surgery. She refused to let me take the dog, threatening that the dog would bite me if I attempted to help it and insisting that the leg was already recovering. I had to negotiate with her for almost 15 minutes and after assuring her that she would not need to pay a single cent, she finally relented.

A Thai and an Indian worker helped us put the injured dog into the pet carrier and we rushed to Mt Pleasant (Sunset Way) before they closed. All the way to the vet, the dog was barking to be released and she was getting agitated. After years of rescue work, I could identify with that familiar smell of rotting flesh and a maggot infested wound.

When we arrived at the vet, she growled from inside the carrier and was extremely aggressive. The vet on night duty, Dr Jane Teo, suggested letting the injured dog rest for the night and take a look at her injury the next day in the hope that she would be less aggressive.

The following evening, Dr LesleyTeo managed to sedate the injured dog and do an x-ray on her. Her right hind leg could not be saved and had to be amputated at the hip. (We have photographs of the surgery but the pics are too gruesome to be posted for public viewing). We also asked Dr Teo to sterilize her during the surgical procedure. It was then that we found out she was in the early stages of pregnancy and had seven puppies. The puppies were aborted. Cruel to abort, you say? Would it be a better option to abort before they came into this awful world as a stray? Or would it be better to keep the puppies and let them grow up, live on the streets for the next ten years, getting into bad fights for food, going for days on end with no food, being attacked by other dogs, no love, no shelter, getting hit by speeding cars and heavy vehicles, then dying a slow painful death in a dirty filthy construction site, without anyone even noticing they were gone? You decide.

 Before surgery, on the operating table. The lower part of her limb is missing.

When the injured dog awoke from sedation after surgery, she cried. I can still hear her cry as I write this. The pain and the sadness in her cry is something that will stay with me for a long time. The loss of a limb; the loss of her puppies. Readers who have never seen strays living on the streets, fighting, mating; would never imagine what these poor dogs go through. What this poor mommy dog went through was something we could never imagine. The pain of being hit by a speeding car, the pain of her bone snapping into two, the pain of living with that broken bleeding leg for almost a month before she received help, and the pain of a male dog mating with her, while she was so badly injured. I feel nauseous as I write this. The unimaginable pain. The sad, sorry life of a stray . . . . and what’s sadder; there are MANY more such cases, and not all are as fortunate to receive help. Many die on the streets, alone and in pain, never ever experiencing love nor a human touch. I have seen carcasses of puppies . . . . dogs . . . I have photographs of these, to remind me of my promise to these strays, to sterilize them and to provide them with food and medical help, within my means.

Recovering, the day after surgery.

We named her Dawn. We hope this is a new beginning for her. It may not seem like a very bright beginning to some; handicapped, three legged, being picked on when she returns to the streets, and having to now learn to cope with her handicap; but she has been sterilized and she will no longer be “gang raped”, nor will she ever produce unwanted puppies on the streets and what’s more, we know she is a survivor. The fact that she went through so much physical pain and survived tells you she is one tough mama!

Dawn is still recovering at Mt Pleasant Animal Clinic and will be there till perhaps Wednesday night. We visit her daily with home cooked food but we have to be careful when we put the food into her cage, as she is still extremely fierce and unpredictable. We check on her wounds daily and as soon as both her amputation and sterilization wounds dry up and heal completely, we will release her back to the streets, to be with her puppies. Cruel to send her back to the harsh realities of life as a stray, with just three legs? Well, we are open to your suggestions and keeping her in a commercial boarding kennel for the rest of her life is NOT an option; realistically, it is not money well spent either. The $300 a month spent on boarding for the rest of her life can be used to sterilize and help many other strays.

Dr Teo was concerned that Dawn may not be able to survive when she goes back to the industrial sites but we know she is a survivor and we know she will survive. In the area where she lives, she is the Alpha dog and we assure you, despite her handicap, she will still be the Alpha dog. She needs to be . . . to survive the way she has.

A new beginning for Dawn. Seen here eating her pork knuckles.

We know that Dawn will be happy to go back to her puppies who are probably missing her and waiting anxiously for mommy's return. Soon they will all be reunited and with the entire family being sterilized over the next few weeks, we know that despite the odds against them, we have done the best we can to help and we will continue to monitor Dawn's well-being, as well as providing food to the entire family on a regular basis. The workers love them and we know they will care for them.

Should you wish to help with her medical bills, please do send us an email to offer your kind help. Her estimated bill to date is $1100. Apart from the vet bills for Dawn, when we send her “home”, we will also be taking her four puppies to be sterilized; two at a time, over the next two weeks.

Our heartfelt thanks for your generosity and kindness.


Listen to a song by Ray Charles, All I Ever Need is You - dedicated to everyone who makes a difference in the lives of these courageous strays, rain or shine.