AS drivers on the road, one of the most imperative rules to follow and abide by is being responsible while behind the wheel. Whether if it’s a fender bender or worse, drivers should always make a conscious effort to own up the consequences of road incidents, should it befall upon them. This is especially true of accidents involving victims, humans or animals alike.
This is just one among many incidents that happen every day in the city. Each week, we spot at least three or four dogs lying bleeding on the road after being hit by a vehicle.
Animals have been the second most common victims of road accidents, but the issue has not shaken the people. When dogs or cats are hit by a vehicle, they are left unattended for at least a few hours until we at Heart pick up their bodies and give them a decent burial.
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A stray/homeless mama dog was run by a speeding motorist in a hit-and-run incident in Sepanggar at around 11am on April 1. A light motor vehicle ran over the homeless mama dog, sustaining severe injuries as a result. According to a witness, despite the severity of the accident that had left the poor animal on the brink of death, the driver of the car chose to ignore all responsibility that they had and simply sped off from the scene, leaving the poor pooch to lay on the road.
The seeming heartlessness of the motorist who allegedly did not stop to check on the mama dog or render assistance after hitting her. It’s not right. That’s what hurt us the most. We wish he/she had stopped. There is no such thing as an accident. There is always a cause.
At the end of the day, you don’t just drive off after hitting something. The mama dog received horrific injuries. It wouldn’t have changed anything but it would have been less upsetting if he/she at least offered to help. It’s despicable.
To the person that hit the mama dog and drove off... “If you had just stopped and attended to the injured dog, we wouldn’t be angry at you right now. Accidents happen, it’s part of life. But for just leaving her there to suffer, we will have a much harder time forgiving you. Thanks for nothing, driver of the car”. We hope this message somehow reaches the driver.
A good Samaritan who saw this, parked his two-wheeler to tend to the doggie that lay writhing in pain in the middle of the road. The good Samaritan wanted to help but simply did not know what to do. Just to prevent other vehicles from hitting her, he created a circle of twigs from the tree and placed it around the injured animal to protect it. He was scared to touch it, as it was howling in pain.
Heart was notified when the witness of the hit-and-run accident contacted us. The mama dog was in such pain that we had a hard time picking her up in the soft blanket we had brought to comfort her. We approached slowly and the pooch seemed friendly, but in severe pain.
We discovered that her head was not the only place she was hurt… When we looked under her back legs, we saw a huge, open, bloody wound. A large piece of flesh was hanging out from a puncture wound on her left side of her body, and she had a deep laceration on her neck. She was also bleeding from the mouth.
She was so exhausted from the trauma of the accident. But when we noticed she had milk, one of our rescuers headed straight into the Sepanggar village where she was living to find her puppies but to no avail. We are still searching for her puppies. We named the mama dog, Daania.
We retrieved the injured dog and rushed the injured pooch to the vet clinic. The veterinary team determined that Daania’s hind area was fractured. X-rays revealed that the dog had also suffered a fracture to the spine and will require a lengthy hospital stay. They began the process of treating this poor dog, starting with cleaning and dressing all her deep wounds.
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The vets started Daania on IV fluids and pain medication. Given the amount of suffering the dog must have been in, her behaviour was remarkable. She allowed staff to look at her leg, look at the wound around her mouth, and place the IV in without incident.
The vets also gave her antibiotics to fight the infection that had been caused from the open lacerations. The vets gave Daania all the necessary treatment and the timely intervention of the vets saved the dog’s life. She will need surgery after the body has been medically stabilised.
If everyone starts to look at animals and not just dogs and cats as fellow animals, who share our planet, we will see far fewer cases of hit-and-run cases towards homeless animals.
We all need to develop an emotional attitude towards animals and try to instil the same in the coming generations to safeguard the lives of the animals, which are an important part of our ecosystem. Teach children to have respect for animals and set a good example by being respectful towards them. Help them to grow up to become the next generation of advocates for animals.
We receive no government funding and rely on the support and kindness from our community, private donations and donation boxes to complete our mission. Heart does not euthanise animals to make space to house others. We are a no-kill animal welfare group and work to preserve life whenever possible.
We rely on donations from people like you who are willing to spend their hard-earned money to help animals in dire needs.
Anyone interested in helping with Daania’s medical expenses can donate to:
CIMB BANK BERHAD
Account no.
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70 3762569 4
ROSLI @ ROSLEE BIN ABBAS
DONATE – DAANIA
And every ringgit helps! Thank you in advance for your generous, big and small (and no donation is too small).