These are two three separate stories, but dogs are the common theme in all three stories.
The missing old dog and ‘ngeow’Â LTA officer
The first story is about a sick, blind and 10-year-old dog, Rara, who went missing on Sunday (20th December). AVA and SPCA advised the owners of Rara who were in distress to put up notices in their neighbourhood about their missing dog. But two days later, Rara’s owners had a message from a LTA officer who asked them to take down their notice or risk a fine of $2000.
“Why can’t these people have compassion, tolerance and kindness for another family in distress? We are not asking these people to hunt for our dog. We are just asking these people to tolerate a small A4 size flyer with a plastic folder. We can guarantee that all these flyers will be removed once the dog is found”, the dog owner laments.
We don’t know if the dog owner was fined or not, but the good news is, the sick, blind, old dog was eventually found.
The dog lover and the ‘Santa’ cabbie
The second story is one of Irene Xu, a dog-lover. She once asked AVA a pointed question on her Facebook, “Ava..when stray dogs are caught and brought to your pound..do Ava put them to sleep immediately??? Please clarify on this and reply to this thread soonest.. Thanks!”; to which AVA replied:
“AVA supports rehoming and works closely with Animal Welfare Groups to rehome dogs which are assessed to be suitable for rehoming. We would like to reassure you that impounded dogs are not euthanised by default nor are they euthanised immediately. Individuals who are prepared to provide a permanent home for these animals can approach the AWGs to adopt them. Animals that are not rehomed are humanely euthanized as a last resort.”
Irene’s story started on the day Rara was found. She was in the Central Business District area, with 2 bags full of souvenirs in her hand she had wanted to take the train home. Unfortunately her bag gave way, so she had no choice but to take a cab home.
The Citycab driver struck up a conversation with Irene and in the course of her conversation, she told him that she volunteers for animal welfare work. Guess what happened when she got off at her destination? The ‘santa’ cabbie, Jayapalan s/o Ponnusamy, waived her entire taxi-fare and encouraged her to continue helping the furry ones. He just wanted karma-points!
If you want to be ‘Santa’ this Christmas
The third one is not exactly a story, but a pitch for a dog adoption and rescue centre, Action for Singapore Dogs, and the pitch is absolutely unsolicited.
Thanks goodness that Rara was found, but if you feel sorry for others that are not, and if you feel inspired by ‘Santa’ cabbie and want to spread some festive cheer, then buy Action for Dogs 2016 calendar which is on sale now. Â BUY HERE!
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERY ONE!
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Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD) was established in December 2000 as a non-profit organization with the mission to improve the welfare of stray and abandoned dogs in Singapore.
‘Ngeow’ is Hokkien for ‘cat’. It describes someone who is very malicious, nitpicky or tries to find fault. E.g. “That sergeant dem ngeow one, no point go and sah kah him.” <source: Talking Cock>