Yes, the idea of our friendly on-campus mongrel, lying at the back of the pickup, in the midst of cardboxes and planks, in the heat of Singaporean afternoons, could prick many a conscience, but judging from the looks of our daytime resident mongrel -- healthy and robust -- and the fact I'd seen his owner take him out for a pee on the grass patch, gives me other reconsiderations.
I have interacted with many 'ground-level' owners: from factory janitors to canteen vendors to security guards, these folks ply the 'lowest grounds' of Singapore, and are the ones in constant contact with our stray dogs, together with our caregivers.
It could be seemingly 'cruel' to contain your pet dog in a vehicle during the day when you work, but my experiences in the animal welfare world has taught me to think more: that the owner could've adopted/rescued/taken him in out of kind intentions; owner might be struggling with finances himself to keep his pet; he can't afford proper daycare/dog-walking services to tend to his dog while he works during the day; he, like many others, is struggling with the stringent dog-unfriendly HDB laws... all seem possible.
We wouldn't want to end up confronting the owner -- all too righteous-sounding -- and compel the guy to abandon his mongrel altogether, as an easy means to avoid all troubles. After all, our mongrel here is healthy, and pet treatment, in this case, is decent. If the owner can sustain such decent treatment in the long run, why not give him a chance?
In my correspondence with the on-campus student animal welfare body, I found another piece of good news: a fellow animal-welfare counterpart is now in a higher authority to exercise better animal welfare duties. His team will investigate. Animal welfare is first priority.
Let's see how this goes. I wouldn't want to see this friendly mongrel a victim of abandonment.
4 comments:
Yes, hope all will end up well. This could be a well-loved dog, whose Owner for some reason or other, has to bring him around in his truck. Sure hope so.
He looks happy in the picture. Maybe he is really happy. But is water provided for him?
Dear Blogger,
I am from NUS Animal Welfare and I have seen this dog since he was a puppy. During my long nights on campus, he would be running about the canteen. His owner, the cleaner has been caring for him since a puppy. I assure you the intentions of the owner are for its welfare but being not very well educated he may not understand the cruelty he may be causing. I wanted to let you know that the owner and his dog are extremely attached and I would feel bad if the dog were to be taken away from him. He has to be in school from morning to evening hence, he brings his furry friend along. If we could find an area where the dog can be kept in school or we could appeal for an area, we might actually help both the owner and the dog and hopefully not separate them. I feel very much for this particular case cause I have been interacting with this dog since my time in NUS. I only recently found out about the dog's long hours in the lorry. I really wish we could do something.This is what really upsets me in this country, the lack of empathy for animals.
Regards,
Satveer (u0600454@nus.edu.sg)
Satveer, I emailed you - pls check =)
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