KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — With the Year of the Dog around the corner, it has been suggested that people get dogs, especially brown ones, to improve their luck for the coming year.
Malay Mail spoke to dog owners and an independent dog rescuer who are encouraging people to look beyond a dog’s breed and to adopt instead of buying them from pet shops.
The Ipoh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals (ISPCA) is also reminding people that keeping dogs is a long-term commitment.
Simi Dharam, 55, former banker
Simi has had Zorro, a black mongrel, for the past 14 years.
She said a florist on the ground floor of her office found a puppy and placed it in a box in front of her shop.
A cleaner at Simi’s apartment said a friend was interested in the puppy.
The person did not turn up and a friend of Simi’s mother in Ipoh offered to take in the puppy.
“But when the friend saw it, she rejected it as she claimed Zorro, which had white patches of hair on her foot, would bring bad luck.”
Simi has kept Zorro ever since.
“She is smart like a pedigree. It took me under a week to train her to poo on a newspaper and not to bark incessantly.”
“There was once I was driving her back to Ipoh from Kuala Lumpur.
“On the highway, she started tapping me. I stopped at the next rest area to allow her to relieve herself.”
Zorro can be quite the diva and expects to have her paws wiped after she does her business outdoors.
“She will not come into the house if her paws are not cleaned.”
When Simi goes for trips, Zorro will be looked after by her sister.
She said there was no point paying thousands for a pedigree when a mongrel served the same purpose.
On the old wives’ tale that black dogs with white patches of hair bring bad luck to its owner, Simi said: “Luck for me and my family improved after I got Zorro. I got promoted and a pay raise.”
Vynnie Ang, 28, beautician
Ang started adopting dogs eight years ago with her first pair being pinchers that a friend gave her.
She now has eight adopted dogs with five of them mongrels and three pinchers.
“I adopt the dogs as I pity them. Most of the time they were abandoned by their former owners.”
She added she always intends to give them away but did not do so as safter growing attached to them.
“My mom does complain that I have too many dogs.”
The dogs, she said, saved the family when a candle from a nearby funeral caused the grass outside her house to catch fire.
“My dogs’ barking woke me and I came down to check. To my horror, a thick smoke had enveloped my living room.
“If not for my dogs, my family and I would have died.”
Ang said mongrels and pedigrees were the same.
Foo Jen Imm, 31, independent dog feeder
Foo, who runs a grooming centre at Ipoh Garden, has fed many strays over the years and rescued several from death.
“People cannot not see beyond a dog’s breed. Many still prefer pedigrees. Mongrels also have their own qualities.”
Among her notable rescues is a mongrel, Ah Girl, which she saved from an abandoned home.
Ah Girl had transmissible venereal tumour and Foo had her undergo chemotherapy.
“After she recovered, I wanted to put her up for adoption but there were no takers.”
The dog is now a community dog that she takes to old folks homes so senior citizens can interact with her.
She added adopting senior dogs has its perks.
“At least they will not bite your belongings like puppies.”
Ricky Soong, ISPCA president
Soong said having a dog was a long-term commitment.
“On average, a dog can live up to 15 years.”
Once a decision was made to keep one, he said the dog would be dependent on its owner.
“We have received calls from owners who gave us illogical reasons, appealing to us to take in their dogs.
“I remember receiving a call from a woman who was getting married and asked us to take her poodle away as her husband disliked dogs.
“I told her when they were courting, he would have seen the dog.
“If he cannot accept it, she should consider leaving the man instead.”
Asked if this would give rise to pet abandonment, Soong said there was only that much the society could do.
Soong said the society also received calls asking for help to rescue dogs that were abandoned by their owners.
He said they rescued a German Shepherd that was abandoned in a cage by its owner, who moved away last year.
Neighbours would throw bits of food into the cage and spray into it for the dog to drink.
“When we removed it from the cage, the dog collapsed. I thought it had died.
“Thankfully it survived after being treated by a veterinarian. The dog has since been adopted by another family.”
