Dr Sing Kong Yuen, Toa Payoh Vets, toapayohvets.com
Saving the Swamp Dogs From Lethal Injections
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, Toa Payoh Vets, toapayohvets.com
Chapter 1. Did the Animal Activist Fail in Her Mission?
Chapter 2. A Volunteer with Passion Is worth 40 Merely Interested.
Chapter 3. The Looters Attacked the Pack Leader.
Chapter 4. If Only We Can Turn Back the Clock for the Pack Leader...
Chapter 5. NANAS. Swamp Dogs Saved From Lethal Injections.
CHAPTER 3.
July 8,2007. 9 am. At a Singapore Veterinary Surgery.
How come a young and fit leader of a pack of swamp dogs would suffer injuries? I had to find out. I e-mailed Esther who was his care-giver, for details. Esther e-mailed me 2 handphone pictures of Bobby's truncated tail.
In the above picture, the veterinarian had shaved off the hair. You could see a sharp vertical sliced up tail of Bobby. Bobby lost around 3/4 of his tail. It was unlikely to be a monitor lizard's bite. Who could be so cruel?
I visited Bobby on the fine morning of July 8, 2007, a Sunday. His tail had been amputated on the previous day.
I e-mailed Esther as to ask her what had happened to Bobby. She and her two children still cared for them after the military deadline to vacate the land by June 24. Tenant 1 had vacated the land and was not residing in the house at night.
I had met Esther on June 14, 2007 when Lynda organised an expedition to get a vet (me) to vaccinate and microchip the swamp dogs.
Esther had contacted Lynda to help save the swamp dogs from lethal injections. If they could be relocated to NANAS (Noah's Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary), they would live to the end of their natural lives. If not, it would be death by lethal injections.
Only the 68-year-old man was living in the premises but he lived further up the track and the pack of dogs of Tenant 1 were not close to him. He had his own 8 dogs.
The the law of the concrete jungle applied to vacant properties. Looters who could be burglars and foreign construction workers invade vacant houses and apartments if they know nobody is watching.
Bobby, the leader of the pack of swamp dogs for Tenant 1 tried to guard the house from intruders.
Esther provided the history of what happened and 2 pictures. The story was as follows:
E-MAIL FROM ESTHER
July 9, 2007
<....@imode.sg> wrote:
Hi doctor sing,
This is the first picture that I took on Jul 2, 2007 (Monday) when he was sent to the veterinary surgery. I thought his tail was hacked off. What do you think? I hope the picture taken by my handphone is clear.
Regards.
E-MAIL REPLY TO ESTHER
July 8, 2007(Sun).
Hi Esther
From your mobile phone picture, Bobby's tail could be cut off with a short object.
I phoned the vet on July 6, 2007. He said that Bobby's tail was badly infected and gangrenous. Bobby's tail needed to be amputated. But he would not speculate how Bobby's tail got injured. Please answer the following questions:
1. When was Bobby's tail hacked?
Answer: A few days before 2nd July, 2007 (Monday). The old couple told me when
I asked them.
2. When you first saw him? Answer : 1st July (Sunday).
3. When was he sent to the veterinarian?
Answer: 2nd July 2007 night
Bobby would sit there waiting for the old couple. They do not stay there
anymore in the night since the 3rd wk of June.
(The military had acquired the premises and all tenants must vacate by June 24, 2007. Tenant 1 with the patriach and wife, described as the "old couple" below did not stay in the house at night after the deadline).
Bobby would "jaga" (Malay word for guard) the place. We know because when we went to
see the dogs in the evening time few times, we saw Bobby sitting where Lynda parked her car.
As we walked in and from quite a distance, Bobby would lift up his head to check on us. He would jump with joy when he recognised us. But when he saw strangers, he would charge at them followed by the rest of pack.
4. Was he the top dog in the pack?
Answer: Yes, he is the leader. He is a very loyal dog. Remember the area where Lynda from NANAS parked her car a few metres before the fishing pond on
June 14, 2007 when you vaccinated 21 dogs?
The old man's son-in-law told me that their tools are missing and that someone entered the old man's bedroom recently. I suspect Bobby got injured in his tail trying to protect a stupid empty house. In that area, foreign workers walked around with parangs (machetes) in their hands. They could be looking for durians and other things.
5. All dogs are frightened of Bobby?
Answer: I have not seen any dog fight with him at the old couple's fishing
pond every time we were there.
Vacant houses and apartments in Singapore have been burglarised. So, I was not surprised that Tenant 1's house was ransacked at night. The Looters from the concrete jungle had attacked the Leader of the Pack.
It was kind of Esther to get Bobby treated rather than abandoning him to die from septic wounds. We just hope that Bobby would recover and be in NANAS as soon as possible.
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