I am side-tracking a bit here and lets take a slow walk for a moment.
This video reminds me of someone I recently met while in Melaka. I call her "Dog Leong".
I was making my round in the Malim Jaya area [ a place in Melaka where all the car workshops centered] looking for spare parts for our company's 19 year old Mazda Astina which we bought for RM8,000 ringgit few weeks ago.
I saw two persons hauling a thick wooden rod at a stray dog at the corner of a shop lot. The dog was barking fiercely at them in defense. I quickly pulled over and shouted at them to stop and warned them that I would report them for Animal Abuse if they were to hit the dog. But they ignored me and continue to wave the rod at the dog seemingly trying to chase it away.
I got off the car and was up for a faceoff to get them to stop. Leong was busy but she explained as I approached. And it all turned out to be a misunderstanding! They were actually trying to save the dog's puppy which had fallen into the drain but they couldn't get close as the protective mother was just too fierce. In my heart, I felt stupid to be too quick to judge a situation.
Decided to help out and I asked for the rod from the other man and squatted down to keep my position low , moving gradually against the dog using the rod as a 'protection' and while doing so, Leong got the chance to pick up the fallen puppy but it was dead. So, we dug a hole in the nearby and buried it.
But Leong was still concerned that the dog would be put down should someone make a complain to the authority. And on the following day, she called me to help her relocate the dog and its puppies to a safer place she claimed to have found. I agreed and when I arrived, I was very much consoled at the scene where the dog had succumbed to her loving kindness and was eating some chicken livers from Leong's offering hand.
Leong was all prepared with the 'equipments' we needed to man-handle the dog. Items:
1) a sling rod with nylon rope in a loop
2) a dog cage
3) and some sedative pills!
I managed to move near the dog and it allowed me to pat her on her head. It was kind and gentle in nature, and obviously aggressive because she was a nursing mother. Using the chicken livers as a 'bait', we made liver balls with the pills hidden inside and managed to trick the dog into swallowing them all. She became drowsy in no time and was even too weak to move, by that time, our job to move her into the cage using the sling rod was quite swift and smooth....we went easy ...easy on her. She was 'cooperative under the sedation. But the dog was in fact quite well-natured; we just needed to play it safe...in case those pills failed us!
Next, the cage with the dog went inside my car and the 3 puppies took ride in Leong's. We then set off to her new home...somewhere and some place I wouldn't have imagined exist.
After some half an hour drive making our way through the kampung by-roads, I found myself at the end of a dead end deep in the middle of a jungle. I noticed a properly compounded area. It was sheltered with shady trees in and around it; a dogs' haven.
I didn't count nor ask; but there should be some 30-40 well-groomed strays inside. And when Leong got off her car, those dogs greeted her with crouched bodies and wagging tails. They seemed to know Leong's was their lives saviour! Man's best friends....
We moved the dog and its puppies into a 'designated' 'quarantine' cage. It seemed assured as her puppies where still around safely. Provided it with some rags to keep warm, and of course water and food.
Just yesterday, Leong called me up for the another 'mission'. Another stray bitch with one puppy left, some died as it had been raining quite frequently in Melaka. I was told this dog was 'silly' enough to move under a longkang [drain] to seek shelter. Did the same trick and managed to get the dog and its only left puppy and we headed back into the deep jungle.
Upon arrival, the most touching, or perhaps rewarding of these efforts was that when the first dog which I helped to relocate saw me, she was jumping and wagging her tails as if I was her owner. I could move in to her and pat and rub her without the 'threat'. She was all tamed! I could tell she has a good sense of well-being and belonging at her new home. Her puppies are all well and fat.
MY SALUTATIONS TO DOG LEONG in appreciation of her Samaritan towards the silent cries of these poor animals, single handedly!
1) She would cook and deliver food to this secretly located pound EVERY day.
2) Bath and groom those dogs every week; 30 to 40 of adult dogs with some 15-20 puppies.
3) Pay the rental of the pound
4) Pay the construction and expansion of the pound
5) Pay for a 'care-taker' to manage the pound
6) Maintain the pound i.e dog -poos.
7) send the dogs for vaccination and de-worming.
I have pledged my voluntary work to this pound and am now her follower respectfully. What's comforting is that some of those puppies and dogs have managed to find their new owners under the strict scrutiny of Leong.
Might be too much to expect the average to be as dedicated as Dog Leong, but I do hope that we, as the blessed, would at times slowdown our pace in life and look around to see if we have been oblivious to the cries of someone out there who is genuinely in need of our help because we are just all busy with pursuing our dream cups ...after cups...after cups. And as seen in the clip above, life isn't just about the cups we want for ourselves...I am deeply inspired by this incident and promise to make myself a coffee that's not only good at the sip but has an aroma that will last my lifetime even at the thought of it.
Drop me a mail/comment if you would like to 'chip in'...in any form. I am trying to figure out something to reach out to those of whom could extend Leong's spirit of sharing, caring and loving unconditionally...in this life. Just remember, no effort is too small so long it comes from the heart...and it does make a difference to the one...in need.
Will take some pictures on my next visit and upload...until then
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